REMINISCENC 

OF 

EARLY  UTAH 


I 
| 


BRIGHAM  YOUNG. 


REMINISCENCES 

OF 

EARLY  UTAH 


BY 
R.  N.  BASKIN 

AN  IX-CHIEF  JUSTICE  OF  THE 
SUPREME  COURT  OF  UTAH 


COPYRIGHT  1914 
By  R.  N.  BASKIN 


Bancroft  Library 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  I.  Page 

The    Conditions    in   Utah    which    Caused    the    Opposition    of   the 

Gentiles 5 

CHAPTER  II. 
The  Organization  of  the  Liberal  Party 23 

CHAPTER  III. 
Outline  of  the  Cullom  Bill 28 

CHAPTER  IV. 
The  Englebrecht  Case 32 

CHAPTER  V. 

Bill  Hickman's  Confession;  Conviction  of  Hawkins;  the  Law  of 
Marital  Relations  Defined;  the  Uprise  and  Downfall  of  Tom 
Fitch;  Vindication  of  Judge  Zane 36 

CHAPTER  VI. 

Indictment  of  Brigham  Young  and  others 54 

CHAPTER  VII. 

The  Case  of  Ferris  v.  Higley,  in  Which  it  Was  Decided  that  the 
Probate  Courts  of  the  Territory  did  not  have  Civil  or  Criminal 
Jurisdiction 59 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

The  Reynolds  Case,  in  which  the  Validity  of  the  Act  of  1862 
Against  Polgamy  was  Sustained  by  the  Supreme  Court  of 
the  United  States  61 

CHAPTER  IX. 

\ 

Marked  Ballots  and  the  Absurd  Election  Law 73 

CHAPTER  X. 

The  Mountain  Meadows  Massacre  and  its  Resulting  Investigation; 
Shadowy  Glimpses  of  the  Endowment  House  Rites  and  Atone- 
ments by  Blood,  Proven  by  Church  Authority 83 

CHAPTER  XL 
The    Danites,   or   Destroying   Angels 150 


CHAPTER   XII. 
The  Alleged  "Revelation"  on  Polygamy 156 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

The  Policy  of  the  Priesthood  Was  to  Prevent  Gentiles  from  Set- 
tling in  the  Territory  or  to  Acquire  Property 164 

CHAPTER  XIV. 
The  Edmunds-Tucker  Bill  and  its  Effect 173 

CHAPTER  XV. 
The  Cullom-Struble  Bill;  The  "Last  Straw" 183 

CHAPTER  XVI. 
The  Effort  for  the  Admission  of  Utah  that  Failed 187 

CHAPTER  XVII. 
A  Reference  to  the  Mormon  Battalion 193 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 
Securing  Free  Schools  in  Utah 198 

CHAPTER  XIX. 

The  Mormon  Business  System 204 

CHAPTER  XX. 

C.  S.  Varian's  Statement 209 

Conclusion 232 

Appendix 237 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


Page 

Brigham  Young Frontispiece 

Bill  Hickman 150 

Daniel  H.  Wells '. 62 

George  A.  Smith 108 

John  D.  Lee 83 

Porter  Rockwell  .  .   196 


PREFACE 

The  glaringly  false  statements  in  Whitney's  History  of  Utah 
respecting  the  nature  and  effect  of  certain  occurrences  which  have 
in  great  part  gone  to  make  up  the  history  of  the  State,  together 
with  his  malignment  of  the  motives  of  myself  and  other  Gentiles 
who  in  the  past  opposed  the  peculiar  theocratic  and  anti- American 
system  established  and  maintained  in  Utah  while  it  was  a  Terri- 
tory by  the  high  priesthood  of  the  Mormon  church,  are  the  reasons 
for  the  writing  of  these  Reminiscences  of  my  connection  with  the 
conflict  waged  for  many  years  between  Mormons  and  Gentiles. 
I  can  vouch  for  the  accuracy  of  the  statements  of  the  facts  here 
given;  but  whether  my  observations  of  the  significance  of  these 
facts  are  warranted,  the  unbiased  reader  himself  must  judge. 

After  a  careful  scrutiny  of  Whitney's  history,  I  deemed  it  due 
the  men,  many  of  whom  were  federal  officials  and  few  of  whom 
are  yet  living,  and  who  have  been  so  wantonly  besmirched  by  him, 
to  correct,  at  least,  some  of  his  erroneous  assertions  and  covert 
insinuations. 

R.  N.  BASKIN. 

Salt  Lake  City,  Utah, 
June  1,  1914. 


CHAPTER  I. 

The  Conditions  in  Utah  Which  Caused  the  Opposition 
of  the  Gentiles. 

A  few  days  after  my  arrival  in  Salt  Lake  City,  in  the  latter 
part  of  August,  1865,  I  became  acquainted  with  Thomas 
Hearst  of  Philadelphia,  the  son  of  William  Hearst,  a  dis- 
tinguished lawyer  of  that  city* 

Young  Hearst  was  the  agent  of  James  P.  Bruner  of 
Philadelphia,  who  owned  the  North  Star  mine  situated  in 
Little  Cottonwood  canyon.  Near  this  property  was  the  Emma 
mine,  the  richness  of  which,  disclosed  by  development  a  few 
years  afterwards,  attracted  to  Utah  a  large  number  of  pros- 
pectors and  miners  to  whom  is  due  the  credit  of  developing 
the  wonderful  mineral  resources  of  the  State.  Mr.  Hearst, 
in  urging  me  to  accompany  him  to  the  mine,  said  he  had  the 
utmost  confidence  that  in  Utah,  upon  the  completion  of  the 
Union  Pacific  railroad,  there  would  be  discovered  many  rich 
and  extensive  mines  which  would  soon  constitute  one  of  the 
most  important  sources  of  the  wealth  of  the  Territory;  and 
in  view  of  that  fact  alone,  Salt  Lake  City,  prospectively,  was 
a  very  desirable  location  for  any  attorney  at  law. 

I  accompanied  him  to  the  mine,  and  from  the  quantity 
of  galena  ore  on  the  dump,  the  large  boulders  of  the  same  ma- 
terial disclosed  at  the  point  of  discovery,  and  the  value  of  the 
ore  as  stated  by  Mr.  Hearst,  I  was  convinced  that  his  confi- 
dence in  the  future  of  the  city  was  probably  well  founded. 

After  this  visit  I  changed  my  intention  of  going  on  to 
California,  and  concluded  to  settle  in  Salt  Lake  City.  I 
secured  an  office  and  began  to  study  the  statutes  of  the  Terri- 
tory and  inquire  into  its  existent  political  and  social  conditions. 

The  provisions  of  the  two  following  acts  of  the  territorial 
legislature  were  the  first  to  attract  my  attention. 

"An  Act  for  the  Regulation  of  Attorneys.  Sec.  2.  No 
person  or  persons  employing  counsel,  in  any  of  the  courts  of 
this  Territory,  shall  be  compelled  by  any  process  of  law  to  pay 


the  counsel  so  employed  for  any  service  rendered  as  counsel, 
before,  or  after,  or  during  the  process  of  trial  in  the  case." 

"An  Act  in  Relation  to  the  Judiciary.  Sec.  1.  That  all 
questions  of  law,  meaning  or  writings  other  than  law,  and  the 
admissibility  of  testimony  shall  be  decided  by  the  court;  and 
no  laws  or  parts  of  laws  shall  be  read,  argued,  cited  or  adopted 
in  any  court  during  any  trial,  except  those  enacted  by  the 
Governor  and  Legislative  Assembly  of  this  Territory,  and 
those  passed  by  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  when  ap- 
plicable; and  no  report,  decision  or  doings  of  any  court  shall 
be  read,  argued,  cited  or  adopted  as  precedent  in  any  trials." 

In  commenting  on  the  foregoing  acts,  let  me  quote  from 
recognized  legal  authority: 

"The  criminal  law  of  England,  both  written  and  un- 
written, in  force  at  the  date  the  colonies  gained  their  inde- 
pendence, became  common  law  in  each  colony,  and  remained 
in  force  in  the  states  of  the  Union  so  far  as  it  was  adapted 
to  the  condition  of  the  people  and  in  harmony  with  the 
genius  of  their  institutions,  and  so  far  as  it  was  not  changed 
by  the  constitution  or  laws  of  the  particular  state."  (1  Mc- 
Lain's  Crim.  Law,  Sec.  12). 

"It  is  plain,  both  on  principle  and  authority,  that  the  com- 
mon law  must  extend  as  well  to  criminal  things  as  to  civil." 
(Bishop's  Crim.  Law,  Sec.  35). 

Bigamy  and  polygamy  are  one  and  the  same  crime. 
Blackstone  states  that  the  latter  term  is  "the  better  expres- 
sion to  designate  that  crime."  At  the  date  of  our  inde- 
pendence, under  the  laws  of  England,  bigamy  was  a  felony. 
Under  the  statute  of  James  I,  Sec.  11,  bigamy  was  punishable 
by  death;  and  under  9th  George  IV,  any  person  counseling, 
aiding,  or  abetting  the  offender  was  equally  guilty  with  him 
and  subject  to  the  same  punishment. 

All  the  states  except  Louisiana,  and  territories  except 
Utah,  had  by  statute  adopted  the  common  law  so  far  as  ap- 
plicable to  new  conditions.  That  law  was  and  is  indis- 
pensably necessary  for  the  proper  government  of  any 
American  community.  It  was,  therefore,  the  imperative  duty 
of  the  Utah  legislature  to  adopt  it  at  the  first  territorial  ses- 
sion. Instead  of  doing  so  the  foregoing  absurd  section  of 
the  judiciary  act  excluding  it  was  passed.  By  adopting  the 
common  law  under  which  polygamy  is  a  felony,  the  legislature 
would  have  made  the  practice  of  the  alleged  divine  polygamic 


tenet  of  the  Mormon  church  a  crime.  For  that  reason  the 
legislature  failed  to  perform  its  imperative  duty  and  stultified 
itself  by  passing  the  section  which  excluded  the  common  law, 
and  all  other  laws  except  those  passed  by  Congress  and  the 
territorial  legislature. 

By  the  provisions  of  the  act  of  Congress  organizing  the 
Territory,  the  judicial  power  of  the  Territory  was  vested 
in  a  supreme  court,  district  courts,  probate  courts  and 
justices  of  the  peace.  By  that  act  the  supreme  and  district 
courts  were  given,  respectively,  chancery  and  common  law 
jurisdiction,  and  the  jurisdiction  of  the  probate  and  justices' 
courts  was  to  be  as  limited  by  law.  By  an  act  of  the  territorial 
legislature  the  probate  courts  were  given  civil  and  criminal 
jurisdiction  in  all  cases  except  those  arising  under  the  acts 
of  Congress.  The  act  in  relation  to  marshals  and  attorneys 
provided  that  there  should  be  elected  by  a  joint  vote  of  both 
houses  of  the  legislative  assembly,  a  marshal  and  district 
attorney,  and  these  officers  were  respectively  made,  by  said 
act,  the  executive  and  prosecuting  officers  of  the  district 
courts  in  all  cases  arising  under  the  laws  of  the  Territory. 
Moreover,  the  act  of  Congress  organizing  the  Territory  had 
already  provided  for  the  appointment,  by  the  President  of 
the  United  States,  of  executive  and  prosecuting  officers  of 
the  district  courts. 

Another  subversion  of  legal  procedure  is  disclosed  in  the 
act  prescribing  the  mode  of  procuring  grand  and  petit  juries 
for  the  district  courts.  This  act  contained  the  following 
provisions : 

"Sec.  2.  The  county  court  in  each  county  shall  at  the 
first  session  in  each  year  and  at  subsequent  sessions,  or 
other  times  as  a  neglect  so  to  do  at  said  first  session  and  as 
other  circumstances  may  require,  make,  from  the  assessment 
roll  of  the  county,  a  list  containing  the  names  of  at  least 
fifty  men,  residents  of  the  county  eligible  to  serve  as  jurors." 

The  further  provisions  of  said  act  required  the  names  so 
selected  to  be  placed  in  a  box  in  the  possession  of  the  clerk 
of  the  county  court,  and  that  both  the  grand  and  petit  juries 
were  to  be  drawn  from  that  box  by  the  territorial  marshal 
or  sheriff,  and  the  clerk  of  the  county  court.  In  case  the 
names  in  the  box  during  any  session  of  the  district  courts 
became  exhausted,  under  a*  provision  of  said  act,  talesmen 


could  not  be  summoned  by  the  court,  but  the  deficiency  could 
only  be  met  by  the  county  court  convening  and  selecting  ad- 
ditional names.  Until  this  was  done,  when  the  names  in 
the  box  became  exhausted,  no  case  requiring  a  jury  could 
be  tried.  To  permit  the  summoning  of  talesmen — which  is 
an  ordinary  method  of  filling  the  panel — might  have  resulted 
in  forming  a  jury  which  was  not  subject  to  the  will  of  the 
priesthood.  Said  act  was  evidently  formed  with  a  view  of 
making  it  impossible  to  impanel  any  but  a  jury  composed  of 
Mormons.  The  acts  containing  the  foregoing  provisions  were 
passed  at  the  first  session  of  the  territorial  legislature  in 
1852,  and  were  approved  by  Brigham  Young,  then  governor 
of  the  Territory. 

As  the  offices  of  territorial  marshal  and  the  county 
courts  were,  under  an  act  of  the  legislature,  elective,  none  but 
members  of  the  Mormon  church  were  ever  elected  to  any 
of  said  offices  as  long  as  the  act  relating  to  the  selection  of 
jurors  remained  in  force.  It  remained  in  force  for  many 
years,  and  until  superseded  by  an  act  of  Congress.  The 
evident  intent  of  the  provisions  to  which  I  have  referred 
was  to  secure  immunity  to  those  practicing  polygamy,  and 
to  enable  Brigham  Young,  the  President  of  the  High  Priest- 
hood1 of  the  Mormon  church,  and  his  successors,  to  control 
the  execution  of  the  laws  by  the  district  courts  in  all  matters 
requiring  trial  by  jury.  That  such  was  the  purpose  and 
effect  of  said  provisions  is  apparent  from  the  failure  for  so 
many  years  to  execute  the  law  of  Congress  respecting 
polygamy,  and  to  indict  and  bring  to  trial  the  perpetrators 
of  many  horrible  crimes  hereinafter  mentioned.  And  the 
sentiments  expressed  in  numerous  Mormon  sermons  of  the 
period  is  practically  conclusive  evidence  on  this  point. 

Governor  Harding,  in  a  message  to  the  legislature,  said: 

"I  am  aware  that  there  is  a  prevailing  opinion  here  that 
said  act  (the  act  of  Congress  on  the  subject  of  polygamy) 
is  unconstitutional,  and  therefore  it  is  recommended  by  those 
in  high  authority  that  no  regard  whatever  should  be  paid 
to  the  same.  I  take  this  occasion  to  warn  the  people  of  this 
Territory  against  such  dangerous  and  disloyal  counsel." 

That  message  was  supplemented  by  Governor  Harding, 
Chief  Justice  Waite,  and  Associate  Justice  Drake,  sending  to 


1Prhe  High  Priesthood  consists  of  the  president  of  the  Mormon  church  and  his  two 
counselors. 


Congress  and  recommending  for  passage,  a  bill  providing  that 
juries  be  selected  by  the  United  States  marshal ;  that  the 
governor  be  authorized  to  appoint  militia  officers,  and  that  the 
powers  of  the  probate  courts  be  restricted  to  their  proper 
functions.  This  so  intensified  the  antagonism  of  Brigham 
Young  that  he  issued  a  call  for  a  meeting  at  the  tabernacle, 
at  which  many  vindictive  and  inflammatory  speeches  were 
made  by  the  leading  members  of  the  Mormon  church,  and 
resolutions  unanimously  adopted  condemning  said  message, 
and  the  action  of  the  governor  and  judges.  A  committee  was 
also  appointed  to  wait  on  the  governor  and  judges,  and  re- 
quest these  officers  to  resign.  A  petition  to  the  President 
of  the  United  States  was  also  drawn  up  and  signed  requesting 
their  removal.  According  to  Whitney,  the  motive  which  in- 
spired the  territorial  acts  referred  to  is  stated  in  the  second 
volume  of  his  history,  page  551,  as  follows: 

"Doubtless  the  fear,  well-founded  it  seems,  that  judges 
would  be  sent  to  the  Territory  who  would  use  the  tribunals 
over  which  they  presided  as  engines  of  oppression,  was  one  of 
the  reasons  why  the  legislature  clothed  the  probate  courts — 
whose  officers,  instead  of  being  sent  from  abroad,  were 
elected  by  the  people  or  their  representatives — with  unusual 
powers.  A  similar  reason — the  fear  of  conspiring  United 
States  attorneys  and  marshals  using  their  functions  to  per- 
secute, and  not  merely  to  prosecute — may  have  influenced 
in  part  the  creation  of  the  offices  of  territorial  attorney 
general  and  marshal.  A  desire  to  maintain  the  principle  of 
local  self-government,  was  doubtless  the  ruling  motive." 

Yes,  without  doubt  it  was  "fear"  that  inspired  these  dis- 
loyal acts — fear  that  the  federal  government  would  send 
judges  and  other  officials  here  to  execute  impartially  the  law 
of  the  land — the  same  fear  that  today  inspires  the  wrong- 
doer under  the  shadow  of  the  law.  What  criminal  would  not 
prefer  laws  and  decisions  of  his  own  making  to  those  of  legally 
constituted  authority?  Whitney  is  right  here — if  we  read 
between  the  lines. 

It  may  be  well  to  instance  a  case  in  point.  The  incident 
following  took  place  in  the  year  1867: 

Isaac  Potter,  Charles  Wilson  and  John  Walker,  residing 
at  Coalville,  were  apostate  Mormons.  Walker  was  a  boy 
about  nineteen  years  of  age.  These  three  persons  had  pre- 
viously been  arrested  for  alleged  thefts,  and  in  every  instance 


had  been  discharged  by  Judge  Snyder,  who  at  the  time  was 
probate  judge  of  Summit  county.  In  August  of  this  year, 
they  were  again  arrested  on  the  charge  of  having  stolen  a 
cow.  While  they  were  under  guard  in  the  schoolhouse  at 
Coalville,  ten  persons,  armed,  appeared  about  twelve  o'clock 
at  night  at  the  building  and  ordered  the  prisoners  to  leave. 
Upon  reaching  the  street  they  were  placed  in  single  file,  a 
short  distance  apart,  and  in  each  intervening  space  two  of  the 
armed  persons  placed  themselves.  The  others  took  positions 
at  the  front  and  rear  of  the  procession  thus  formed.  In  this 
order  they  marched  along  the  principal  street  of  Coalville, 
through  the  mainly  inhabited  part  of  the  town.  Arriving  at 
the  outskirts,  and  their  captors  continuing  to  move  on,  Potter 
turned  around  and  said  to  Walker :  "John,  they  are  going 
to  murder  us!  Wouldn't  you  like  to  see  your  mother  before 
you  die?"  Thereupon  one  of  the  armed  men  marching  behind 
Potter  thrust  the  muzzle  of  a  shotgun  against  Potter's  mouth. 
Potter  in  terror,  shouted  "murder!"  Whereupon  the  armed 
man  discharged  the  gun  against  the  body  of  Potter  at  a 
range  so  close  as  to  cause  his  instant  death.  At  the  discharge 
of  the  gun,  both  Wilson  and  Walker  broke  away  and  ran 
for  their  lives.  Wilson  was  overtaken  and  killed  at  the  edge 
of  the  Weber  river.  As  Walker  made  his  escape,  a  charge 
from  a  shotgun  grazed  his  breast  and  lacerated  his  hand  and 
wrist.  He  was  wearing  neither  coat  nor  vest,  and  the  charge 
set  his  shirt  on  fire  and  as  he  ran  he  extinguished  the  fire  by 
the  blood  from  his  wounds.  He  was  an  athletic  youth  and 
soon  distanced  his  pursuers.  Although  a  number  of  shots 
were  fired  at  him  in  the  pursuit,  he  reached  the  river  without 
further  injury,  swam  across,  and  thereby  escaped  assassina- 
tion. After  numerous  hardships  he  succeeded  in  reaching 
Camp  Douglas,  where  the  commanding  officer,  upon  hearing 
what  had  taken  place,  gave  him  support  and  protection. 

No  steps  having  been  taken  by  the  authorities  of  Summit 
county  to  arrest  any  of  the  participants  in  the  homicides 
mentioned,  Judge  Titus,  whose  judicial  district  included 
Summit  county,  upon  the  affidavit  of  Walker,  issued  a  war- 
rant for  the  arrest  of  the  persons  accused  of  the  crime.  They 
were  arrested,  and  at  the  hearing  before  Judge  Titus,  at  which 
I  was  present,  what  I  have  here  stated  respecting  the  murder 
of  Potter  and  Wilson  and  the  assault  upon  Walker,  appeared 

10 


from  the  testimony  of  Walker,  who  was  a  witness.  Several 
of  the  residents  of  Coalville  testified  that  they  were  awakened 
by  the  shots  fired,  and  rushed  out  to  learn  the  cause  of  the 
disturbance;  that  they  saw  Potter  dead  upon  the  ground, 
with  his  throat  cut  from  ear  to  ear.  Walker,  when  on  the 
witness  stand,  identified  the  prisoners  severally,  and  stated 
what  each  had  done  up  to  the  moment  Potter  was  killed. 
Judge  Titus  committed  the  accused  to  the  penitentiary  to 
await  the  action  of  the  grand  jury.  John  T.  D.  McAllister, 
who  under  the  territorial  statute  before  quoted,  was  the  ex- 
ecutive officer  of  the  district  court,  took  charge  of  the 
prisoners  and  conducted  them  in  wagons  to  the  penitentiary. 
Upon  arriving  there,  the  prisoners  gently  lifted  the  marshal 
out  of  the  wagon  occupied  by  him  and  drove  away.  No 
effort  was  made  to  rearrest  them,  and  a  short  time  afterwards, 
over  the  signature  of  all  of  them  except  Arza  Hinkley  and 
John  C.  Livingstone,  the  following  insolent  letter  appeared 
in  the  Salt  Lake  Daily  Telegraph.  This  newspaper  was 
owned  and  edited  by  one  Stenhouse,  then  a  zealous  member 
of  the  Mormon  church,  but  who  afterwards  apostatized  and 
published  a  book,  and  in  which  he  mentioned  the  murder  of 
Potter  and  Wilson.  The  aforesaid  letter  reads : 

"In  the  Pines,  Elk  Ranch  District,  Rocky  Mountains, 

September  7th,  1867. 

"Editor  of  the  Daily  Telegraph,  and  to  all  whom  it  may 
concern : 

"After  arriving  here  we  thought  it  due  to  judge,  warden 
and  marshal  that  they  should  know  the  reason  for  our  re- 
fusing to  accept  the  proposal  of  his  honor,  Judge  Titus,  to 
take  up  our  abode  in  the  penitentiary  for  the  period  of  forty 
days  to  await  the  action  of  the  grand  jury  then  to  be  as- 
sembled. 

"Firstly:  On  our  arrival  at  that  beautiful  mansion  in  the 
delightful  neighborhood  of  the  Sugar  House  ward,  we  were 
astounded  to  learn  that  mine  hosts'  penitentiary  larder  was' 
but  sparsely  supplied,  and  his  stock  on  hand  but  limited,  no 
appropriation  having  been  made  by  nation,  territory  or  county 
for  the  entertainment  of  guests  whom  the  fates  may  send  in 
that  direction. 

"Secondly:  Not  wishing  to  tax  the  warden's  hospitality 
unnecessarily,  and  it  generally  being  our  custom  to  maintain 
ourselves  by  the  sweat  of  our  brow. 

11 


"Thirdly:  The  atmosphere  of  warden's  boarding  rooms 
was  slightly  impregnated  with  a  bad  influence  arising  from 
being  occupied  by  individuals  of  the  Potter,  Wilson  and 
Walker  stamp,  which  is  decidedly  offensive  to  our  olfactory 
nerves. 

"Lastly:  We  concluded  to  sustain  ourselves  until  the 
memorable  fourteenth  day  of  October,  1867,  free  of  expense 
to  the  territory  and  county.  On  that  day  we  will  appear  at 
the  court  house,  G.  S.  L.  City,  individually  and  collectively. 
(His  Honor  may  put  that  down)." 

"Yours,  etc., 

ALMA  ELDREDGE, 
JAMES  MAHONEY, 
EDMUND  ELDREDGE, 
MAHONRI  CAHOON, 
HYRUM  ELDREDGE, 
THOMAS  DODSON, 
JOSHUA  WISEMAN, 
JOHN  STANLEY." 

The  only  excuse  ever  claimed  by  any  of  the  accused  was 
that  Potter,  Wilson  and  Walker  attempted  to  escape,  and  were 
shot  while  running  away.  In  the  light  of  the  fact  that  Potter's 
throat  was  cut  and  his  clothes  scorched  by  the  charge  which 
killed  him,  and  that  Walker's  shirt  was  set  on  fire  by  the  shot 
which  wounded  him,  such  a  claim  is  absurd.  It  was  shown  by 
the  testimony  that  Arza  Hinkley  was  in  command  of  the 
participants  in  the  affair  and  directed  their  movements.  He 
was  not  a  resident  of  Coalville  at  the  time,  his  home  being 
in  Salt  Lake  City.  He  went  to  Coalville  shortly  after  Potter, 
Wilson  and  Walker  were  arrested.  After  Potter  and  Wilson 
were  killed  he  moved  permanently  to  Coalville,  was  soon  in- 
stalled in  the  office  of  probate  judge  of  Summit  county  in 
place  of  Judge  Snyder,  and  served  in  that  capacity  for  many 
years.  Walker  remained  for  some  time  at'  Fort  Douglas 
after  the  accused  parties  were  committed,  but  before  the 
time  set  for  the  grand  jury  of  the  district  court  to  con- 
vene he  left  the  fort  to  visit  his  mother  at  Coalville.  He 
did  not  visit  his  mother,  but  mysteriously  disappeared,  and 
has  neither  been  seen  nor  heard  of  since  that  time.  No  doubt 
he  was  assassinated  before  reaching  his  home.  His  testimony 
was  necessary  to  make  a  case  against  the  accused,  and  his  dis- 
appearance gave  them  perfect  immunity. 

12 


The  deportment  of  these  men  at  the  hearing,  notwith- 
standing the  evidence,  showed  beyond  a  reasonable  doubt  that 
they  were  guilty.  What  subsequently  transpired  at  the  pen- 
itentiary, and  their  insolent  letter,  convinced  me  that  their 
crime  was  one  of  that  class  of  homicides  which  like  the 
Mountain  Meadows  massacre,  the  murders  of  Brown,  Arnold, 
of  Potter  and  Parish,  of  Hartley,  Brassfield,  Dr.  Robinson  and 
others,  could  be  committed  with  perfect  impunity  under  the 
conditions  then  existing,  and  that  the  accused  were  conscious 
of  security  from  punishment. 

Perhaps  I  should  have  first  cited  the  cases  of  Dr.  Robinson 
and  Brassfield,  since  these  precede  the  Coalville  tragedy.  My 
only  object  in  reversing  the  order  of  events  was  simply  to  bring 
to  the  attention  of  the  reader  a  more  striking  illustration  of 
the  subversion  of  legal  procedure  and  justice  than  is  afforded 
by  the  earlier  cases. 
************ 

Dr.  Robinson  was  assassinated  on  October  22,  1866.  At 
that  time  there  were  no  public  or  private  hospitals  in  Salt  Lake 
City.  He  decided  to  build  one,  and  began  by  erecting  in  the 
vicinity  of  the  Warm  Springs,  upon  unoccupied  land  situated 
a  considerable  distance  beyond  any  habitation  of  the  city,  a 
small  frame  house  to  be  used  as  a  workshop  in  the  construction 
of  the  hospital.  Shortly  after  the  workshop  was  finished  a 
police  force  tore  it  down  and  warned  the  doctor  that  it  would 
not  be  healthy  for  him  to  renew  his  operations  there.  The 
doctor  subsequently  came  to  my  office,  and  after  stating  what 
had  occurred,  announced  that  he  contemplated  bringing  suit  to 
recover  damages  for  the  destruction  of  his  property  and  en- 
joining further  interference  by  the  police.  He  also  stated  that 
another  attorriey  whom  he  had  consulted  refused  to  institute 
a  suit  because  he  feared  it  would  subject  him,  the  attorney,  to 
personal  violence.  Some  of  his  friends  had  warned  him  that 
he  would  incur  great  personal  hazard  by  bringing  suit. 

I  replied  that  the  attorney  and  his  friends  certainly  must 
be  very  timid,  for  I  did  not  believe  it  possible  anywhere  in  the 
United  States  that  a  citizen  would  jeopardize  his  life  by  apply- 
ing to  the  courts  of  his  country  for  an  adjudication  of  his 
rights  in  any  case;  that  while  in  view  of  what  he  had  stated 
I  would  not  advise  him  to  bring  suit,  if  he  decided  to  do  so,  I 

13 


would  not  hesitate  to  act  as  his  attorney.     Shortly  afterward 
he  requested  me  to  proceed  in  the  matter,  which  I  did. 

A  few  weeks  after  the  suit  was  instituted  he  was  called 
from  his  bed  at  midnight  by  some  unknown  person,  who  stated 
that  an  acquaintance  of  the  doctor  had  been  severely  injured 
by  being  thrown  from  a  mule,  and  that  his  services  were  im- 
mediately required.  Disregarding  the  dissuasion  of  his  wife, 
he  proceeded  with  the  unknown  person,  and  upon  reaching 
a  point  near  where  the  Walker  dry  goods  store  is  now  situated, 
at  the  corner  of  Main  and  Third  South  streets,  he  was  brutally 
murdered.  At  the  inquest  held  it  appeared  that  seven  persons 
were  seen  running  from  the  place  at  the  time  the  crime  was 
committed.  The  suit  instituted  was  never  finally  tried,  and 
not  having  been  revived,  was  abated  by  the  death  of  the  doctor. 

Some  circumstances  antecedent  to  this  murder  are  signifi- 
cant. A  short  time  before,  a  crowd  of  men  armed  with  axes 
broke  the  windows,  doors,  and  fixtures  of  a  building  belonging 
to  him,  and  destroyed  a  bowling  alley  situated  therein.  He 
procured  a  warrant  for  the  arrest  of  the  chief  of  police  and 
other  members  of  the  police  force  on  the  charge  of  having 
maliciously  destroyed  his  property,  and  they  were  bound  over 
to  answer  to  that  charge.  Two  days  before  the  doctor's 
assassination  he  called  upon  Mayor  Wells,  who  was  one  of 
Brigham  Young's  counselors,  and  requested  him  to  interpose 
and  restrain  the  police  force.  In  place  of  granting  that  natural 
and  reasonable  request,  the  mayor  grossly  insulted  the  doctor 
and  ordered  him  out  of  the  house. 

Doctor  Robinson  was  an  educated  gentleman  of  courteous 
manners  and  affable  disposition.  His  deportment  was  in  every 
respect  exemplary.  He  was  superintendent  of  the  first  Gentile 
Sunday  school  in  Salt  Lake  City ;  was  a  skillful  physician  and 
surgeon ;  had  an  extensive  practice,  and  it  was  generally  known 
that  his  attendance  could  always  be  obtained  by  anyone,  even 
when  compensation  was  out  of  the  question.  He  was  charit- 
able, and  humane  motives  alone  induced  him  to  begin  erecting 
a  hospital.  He  was  exceptionally  popular,  had  no  known 
enemy,  nor  quarrel  with  anyone  except  the  city  authorities. 
He  had  done  nothing,  so  far  as  known,  calculated  to  subject 
him  to  any  hostility  except  that  of  occupying  the  land  before 
mentioned,  which  was  against  the  settled  policy  of  Brigham 

14 


Young  respecting  the  acquisition  of  property  in  Utah  by  Gen- 
tiles.    That  policy  will  be  fully  elucidated  herein  further  on. 

As  at  least  seven  persons  were  participants  in  the  murder 
of  Dr.  Robinson,  it  is  evident  that  they  had  previously  met 
and  deliberately  agreed  upon  the  manner  in  which  it  was  to  be 
accomplished.  It  is  anomalous,  in  view  of  the  circumstances 
disclosed,  that  seven  or  more  persons  living  in  a  civilized  com- 
munity should  conspire  to  murder  such  an  estimable  man  as 
Doctor  Robinson. 

Following  are  quotations  from  an  interview  by  a  corres- 
pondent of  the  New  York  Evening  Post,  on  November  7, 
1867: 

TALK  WITH  BRIGHAM  YOUNG. 

"I  have  stated  that  the  only  explanation  given  by  any  of 
the  Mormons  of  the  murder  of  Dr.  Robinson  is  that  it  was 
committed  by  Gentiles  with  the  object  of  criminating  the 
church.  I  called  again  today  on  President  Young,  notifying 
him  that  my  object  was  to  obtain  some  facts  for  the  public 
eye,  and  in  my  long  conversation  with  him  he  said  that  most 
of  the  Gentiles  living  here  were  bad  enough  to  commit  any 
act  that  would  injure  him  and  his  people,  and  that  he  had  no 
doubt  that  some  wretch  had  been  hired  for  about  $10.00  to 
murder  Dr.  Robinson.  He  said  that  Dr.  Robinson  was  one 
of  the  worst  men  he  ever  knew.  'He  was  saucy  and  impudent, 
and  pushed  himself  right  against  us,'  he  said.  He  said  he 
was  sorry  that  the  doctor  had  been  killed,  for  he  wanted  him 
to  live  and  die  in  the  ditch  like  a  dog,  as  he  would  have  done 
if  he  had  gone  on.  Still,  he  hoped  the  murderers  would  be 
discovered,  though  he  had  no  idea  the  one-sided  and  prejudiced 
attorney  conducting  the  case  meant  to  discover  them,  for  it 
would  show  the  wickedness  of  their  own  clique,  who  had 
planned  the  deed,  he  thought.  'They  selected  Doctor  Robin- 
son/ he  said,  'on  account  of  having  difficulty  with  the  Mormon 
authorities,  thereby  intending  that  the  blame  should  be  thrown 
on  them/  He  lavished  vigorous  epithets  on  Governor  Weller, 
the  Gentile  lawyer,  and  above  all  on  Justice  Titus.  Referring 
to  the  latter  gentleman,  and  some  of  his  decisions,  he  said  they 
were  dictated  occasionally  by  law,  but  generally  by  his  per- 
sonal feelings;  that  all  of  the  United  States  judges  were  a 
set  of  prejudiced  scoundrels,  and  he  did  not  want  any  more 
of  their  decisions ;  that  they  had  better  be  careful  or  they 
would  have  to  go  out  of  this  place.  'Yes,  I'll  put  them  out 
myself  pretty  soon ;  send  them  home  by  a  short  cut/  2  I 

2In  Whitney's  History,  Vol.  II,  page  325,  it  is  stated  that  at  a  banquet  in  Salt  Lake 
City,  Senator  Trumbull,  of  Illinois,  related  a  conversation  he  had  with  President  Young 
in  which  the  latter,  it  was  claimed,  had  said  something  to  the  effect  that  if  the  federal 
official*  in  Utah  did  not  behave  themselves,  he  would  have  them  ridden  out  of  the 
Territ*. 

15 


referred  to  the  destruction  of  Doctor  Robinson's  bowling  alley, 
and  other  deeds  of  mob  violence,  to  which  Young  said  that 
in  his  opinion  that  band  of  men  had  done  wrong;  that  instead 
of  going  by  night  to  destroy  the  building,  they  should  have 
gone  through  it  in  broad  day.  Td  have  gutted  it  at  noon, 
torn  it  down  and  destroyed  it  in  the  light  of  day,  so  that 
every  man  might  see  me/  " 


Brassfield  married  a  woman  who  had  previously  been  the 
plural  wife  of  a  man  named  Hill,  then  on  a  mission  in  England. 
Hill  and  the  woman  had  severed  their  relations  and  had  not 
cohabitated  for  several  years.  Shortly  after  said  marriage, 
Brassfield  was  brutally  assassinated  at  twilight  of  an  evening 
on  one  of  the  principal  streets  of  Salt  Lake  City,  at  the  time 
thronged  with  people.  The  assassin  escaped  and  was  never 
arrested. 

Brigham  Young,  in  a  sermon  reported  in  the  Deseret 
News  of  April  12,  1866,  referring  to  the  event,  said :  "Whether 
he  (Brassfield)  was  killed  by  someone  whom  he  threatened  to 
shoot,  or  by  some  relation  or  friend  of  Hill's  family,  or  by 
someone  who  had  made  a  catspaw  of  him  in  his  ill-starred 
operations,  or  by  some  of  his  acquaintances  to  settle  a  grudge, 
thinking  of  course  it  would  be  laid  upon  the  Mormons,  is  yet 
to  be  learned." 

Such  disgusting  statements  as  the  above,  and  those  made 
respecting  the  murder  of  Doctor  Robinson  were  characteristic 
of  Brigham  Young,  as  will  appear  more  fully  further  on. 

Brassfield  was,  beyond  doubt,  murdered  because  he  mar- 
ried the  former  plural  wife  of  Hill.  There  can  be  no  doubt 
whatever  that  Brigham  was  aware  of  the  facts  of  the  crime, 
and  that  later  he  also  knew  why  Doctor  Robinson  was  murdered, 
and  who  murdered  him. 

Marriage  between  members  of  the  Mormon  church  and 
Gentiles  had  been  interdicted  by  the  priesthood,  and  it  was 
dangerous  for  any  man  not  a  member  of  the  church  to  even 
become  a  suitor  of  a  woman  of  Mormon  predilections.  I  know 
of  one  instance  in  which  a  brilliant  young  man  of  good 
character  was  maltreated  because  he  was  a  suitor  of  a  daughter 
of  a  prominent  Mormon.  He  had  for  a  considerable  time  been 
paying  his  addresses  to  the  young  lady.  While  the  father  of 
the  girl  opposed,  her  mother  favored  his  addresses.  He  and 

16 


the  young  lady  became  engaged.  He  had  been  warned  several 
times  by  anonymous  letters  to  cease  paying  further  court  to 
the  young  lady,  but  paid  no  heed  to  these  warnings.  One 
night  he  and  the  young  lady  had  attended  the  theatre,  and 
having  escorted  her  home,  while  returning  to  his  home  he 
was  set  upon  by  several  masked  men  and  dragged  to  one  of 
the  trees  east  of  the  temple  block.  His  coat  and  waistcoat 
were  taken  off,  and  while  his  arms  were  held  around  the 
tree,  a  policeman  named  Bill  Hyde,  whom  the  young  man 
identified,  most  brutally  lacerated  his  back  with  a  blacksnake 
whip. 

Under  the  conditions  then  existing,  it  would  have  been 
useless  for  the  young  man  to  institute  criminal  proceedings 
against  Hyde :  and  to  have  killed  him,  as  he  intended,  but  from 
which  he  was  dissuaded  by  me,  would,  beyond  question,  have 
cost  him  his  life. 


From  my  investigations  I  became  thoroughly  convinced 
that  the  high  priesthood  of  the  Mormon  church  were  the 
actual  rulers  of  Utah,  and  that  the  government  established  by 
the  Organic  Act  had  only  a  nominal  existence ;  that  the  priest- 
hood claimed  to  be  divinely  authorized  to  rule  the  members 
of  the  Mormon  church  in  all  matters,  temporal  and  spiritual ; 
that  the  adherents  of  that  church  constituting  almost  the  entire 
population  of  the  Territory,'  conceded  the  claim  of  the  priest- 
hood ;  that  the  legislative  powers  granted  by  the  Organic  Act, 
instead  of  being  used  as  intended — namely,  to  pass  laws 
necessary  for  the  proper  government  of  an  American  com- 
munity, and  thus  to  prepare  the  Territory  for  admission  into 
the  Union  as  a  State,  republican  in  spirit  and  in  form, 
and  with  institutions  in  harmony  with  American  civilization — 
were  used  only  to  sanction  in  legal  form  the  will  of  the  priest- 
hood; to  give  immunity  to  the  Asiatic  system  of  polygamy 
which  had  been  adopted  as  a  tenet  of  the  Mormon  church,  and 
to  prevent  the  execution  of  any  law  except  by  agencies  created 
and  controlled  by  the  priesthood.  In  short,  that  there  existed 
here  an  irrepressible  conflict  between  the  system  established 
by  the  Mormons  and  the  republican  institutions  of  the  United 
States  which  would  preclude  the  admission  of  the  Territory 
into  the  Union  as  long  as  that  conflict  continued,  and  that  it 

17 


could  only  be  ended  by  destroying  the  temporal  power  of  the 
priesthood.  As  to  the  reliability  of  my  convictions  on  these 
matters  the  quotations  following  are  in  point. 

As  early  as  1857  President  Buchanan,  in  his  message  to 
Congress,  said: 

"Brigham  Young  has  been  both  governor  and  superin- 
tendent of  Indian  affairs.  *  *  He  has  been  at  the  same 
time  head  of  the  church  called  the  Latter-day  Saints,  and  pro- 
fesses to  govern  its  members  by  direct  inspiration  and 
authority  from  the  Almighty.  His  power  has  been,  therefore, 
absolute  over  both  church  and  state." 

President  Garfield,  in  his  inaugural  address,  said : 

"The  Mormon  church  not  only  offends  the  moral  sense 
of  manhood  by  sanctioning  polygamy,  but  prevents  the  ad- 
ministration of  justice  through  ordinary  instrumentalities  of 
law  *  *  *  nor  can  any  ecclesiastical  organization  be 
safely  permitted  to  usurp  in  the  smallest  degree  the  functions 
and  powers  of  the  national  government." 

Brigham  Young,  in  the  Journal  of  Discourses,  Vol.  IV, 
page  77,  said : 

"The  Kingdom  is  established.  It  is  upon  the  earth.  The 
kingdom  we  are  talking  about,  preaching  about  and  trying  to 
build  up  is  the  Kingdom  of  God  on  earth — not  in  the  starry 
heavens,  nor  in  the  sun ;  we  are  trying  to  establish  the  King- 
dom of  God  on  the  earth,  to  which  really  and  properly  every- 
thing pertaining  to  men,  their  feelings,  their  faith,  their  con- 
victions, their  desires,  and  every  act  of  their  lives  belong,  that 
they  may  be  sealed  by  it  spiritually  and  temporally.  We  are 
called  upon  to  establish  the  Kingdom  of  God  literally  just  as 
much  as  spiritually.  There  is  no  man  on  the  earth  who  can 
receive  the  Kingdom  of  God  in  his  heart  and  be  governed 
according  to  the  laws  of  that  kingdom  without  being  governed 
and  controlled  in  all  temporal  matters." 

In  Vol.  VI,  page  23,  of  said  Journal,  he  further  said : 

"The  Kingdom  of  God  circumscribes  the  municipal  law 
of  the  people  in  their  outward  government." 

In  Vol.  I,  page  361,  he  said : 

"Admit  for  the  sake  of  the  argument  that  the  Mormon 
elders  have  more  wives  than  one,  yet  our  enemies  have  never 
proved  it.  If  I  have  forty  wives  in  the  United  States  they  do 
not  know  it  and  could  not  substantiate  it.  Neither  did  I  ask 
any  judge,  lawyer  or  magistrate  for  them.  I  LIVE  above 
the  law,  and  so  do  this  people." 

18 


In  Vol.  XI,  pages  354  and  355,  he  said : 

"Why  do  we  believe  save  as  we  do  on  these  points?  Be- 
cause God  has  spoken,  and  we  believe  him.  We  are  aiming  at 
something  more  than  religious  unity.  We  have  a  political 
existence  none  can  ignore  and  destroy.  They  think  they  can ; 
but  they  cannot.  They  cannot  make  us  mingle  with  the  con- 
fusion of  Babylon  no  more  than  they  can  make  oil  and  water 
coalesce.  There  is  no  affinity  between  us.  They  profess  very 
little  faith  in  God,  and  know  nothing  about  him.  While  we 
profess  faith  in  God,  and  we  do  know  that  he  loves  and  speaks 
to  his  people.  Hence  unity  between  them  and  us  is  im- 
possible." 

Orson  Pratt,  one  of  the  twelve  apostles,  and  the  most 
celebrated  scholar  of  the  Mormon  church,  published,  in  Liver- 
pool, England,  a  series  of  essays  from  which  the  following  is 
an  extract : 

THE  ONLY  LEGAL  GOVERNMENT. 

"The  Kingdom  of  God  is  an  order  of  government  es- 
tablished by  divine  authority.  It  is  the  only  legal  government 
that  can  exist  in  any  part  of  the  universe.  All  other  govern- 
ments are  illegal  and  unauthorized.  God,  having  made  all 
beings  and  worlds,  has  the  supreme  right  to  govern  them  by 
His  own  laws  and  by  officers  of  His  own  appointment.  Any 
people  attempting  to  govern  themselves  by  laws  of  their  own 
notion,  and  by  officers  of  their  own  appointment  are  in  direct 
rebellion  against  the  Kingdom  of  God.  *  *  *  For  seven- 
teen hundred  years  the  nations  upon  the  Eastern  hemisphere 
have  been  entirely  destitute  of  the  Kingdom  of  God — entirely 
destitute  of  a  true  legal  government — entirely  destitute  of 
officers  legally  authorized  to  rule  and  govern.  All  emperors, 
kings,  princes,  presidents,  lords,  nobles  and  rulers  have  acted 
without  authority  *  *  *.  Their  authority  is  all  assumed ; 
it  originated  in  man.  Their  laws  are  not  from  the  great  law 
giver,  but  are  the  production  of  their  own  false  governments. 
Their  very  foundations  were  laid  in  rebellion,  and  the  whole 
superstructure  from  first  to  last  is  a  heterogeneous  mass  of 
discordant  elements,  in  direct  opposition  to  the  Kingdom  of 
God,  which  is  the  only  true  government  which  should  be 
recognized  on  earth  or  in  heaven." 

The  following  is  an  extract  from  a  sermon  of  John  Taylor, 
one  of  the  twelve  apostles,  and  afterwards  the  successor  of 
Brigham  Young,  found  in  the  Journal  of  Discourses,  Vol.  V, 
page  149: 

"Some  people  ask,  What  is  priesthood?  It  is  the  legiti- 
mate rule  of  God,  whether  in  Heaven  or  on  the  earth,  and  it 

19 


is  the  only  legitimate  power  that  has  a  right  to  rule  upon  the 
earth.  We  came  to  serve  God,  to  a  place  where  we  could 
more  fully  keep  His  commandments,  where  we  could  fulfil  His 
behests  upon  the  earth.  This  is  why  we  came  here.  Well, 
then,  if  we  are  the  only  people  whom  God  acknowledges  as  a 
nation,  have  we  not  a  right  to  the  privileges  we  enjoy?  Who 
owns  the  gold  and  silver  and  the  cattle  on  a  thousand  hills? 
God.  Who  then  has  a  right  to  appoint  rulers?  None  but 
Him  or  the  man  He  appoints." 

I  could  add  a  large  number  of  other  quotations  of  like 
import  from  Mormon  sermons  and  publications,  but  it  is  un- 
necessary to  do  so.  I  will,  however,  add  some  enunciations 
from  Gentiles  of  high  standing,  who  have  given  the  subject 
studious  attention.  The  following  is  from  the  reply  of  Judge 
Rosborough,  chairman  of  the  Democratic  central  committee, 
to  a  communication  from  the  chairman  of  the  central  com- 
mittee of  the  People's  party  (church  party)  requesting  him 
to  participate  in  a  constitutional  convention  called  by  the 
church  party : 

"Your  party  is  the  dominant  church,  and  that  church  as 
a  political  organization  constitutes  your  party;  nothing  con- 
tained in  one  is  wanting  in  the  other,  and  neither  contains  what 
is  not  tolerated  in  the  other.  They  are  one  and  the  same  in 
their  membership,  so  that  independent  political  action  by  an 
individual  can  never  occur  except  with  apostasy  from  the 
creed.  The  theory  upon  which  our  republican  institutions 
are  based  is  that  all  political  power  is  derived  from  the  people. 
On  the  contrary,  the  leaders  of  your  party  claim  and  teach, 
and  their  followers  concede,  that  all  rightful  political  power 
is  derived  from  God,  and  is  delegated  to  his  chosen  ministers, 
who  have  a  divine  commission  to  rule  over  the  people  whose 
first  duty  it  is  to  obey  counsel  (i.  e.,  submit  to  dictation)  in 
temporal  as  well  as  spiritual  concerns;  and  they  further  hold 
and  teach  as  a  political  maxim  as  well  as  a  dogma  of  a  creed 
that  this  divine  commission  entitles  them  to  the  present  right 
to  and  the  near-future  possession  of  sovereignty  to  be  founded 
upon  the  ruins  of  all  secular  (man-made)  governments.  Such 
assumptions  are  utterly  repugnant  to  American  institutions, 
but  at  the  same  time  these  pretentions  gauge  the  patriotism  of 
these  leaders  and  denote  the  intelligence  and  other  qualifi- 
cations of  their  followers  for  citizenship  and  statehood." 

Judge  McBride,  committee  chairman  of  the  Republican 
party,  in  reply  to  a  like  communication,  said : 

"If  Utah  shall  be  clothed  with  the  forms  of  a  State,  the 
result  would  be  a  theocratic  State  in  which,  as  Mr.  Cannon, 

20 


one  of  your  ablest  and  wisest  oracles  expressed  it,  'the  voice 
of  God  will  be  the  voice  of  the  people,'  and  this  voice  finds 
expression  through  his  chosen  mouthpiece — the  head  of  the 
Mormon  church.  This  political  axiom  of  your  People's  party 
is  announced  by  its  recognized  leaders,  and  is  accepted  with 
full  faith  and  obedience.  It  reverses  the  entire  theory  upon 
which  all  republican  governments  are  founded,  and  derives 
the  authority  to  govern  not  from  the  people,  but  from  those 
anointed,  as  you  claim,  by  a  divine  commission  to  rule  over 
them.  These  differences  are  too  radical  for  accommodation, 
for  our  fundamental  idea  of  all  civil  government  is  that  it  is 
derived  from  the  people.  In  a  State  established  under  a 
theocratic  idea,  a  free  public  sentiment  finds  no  place.  It  ex- 
tinguishes and  annihilates  all  the  fundamental  beacons  of  the 
republican  government  around  us,  and  remits  us  to  the  dark- 
ness of  that  superstition  and  fanticism  which  the  world  of 
intelligence  and  law  has  been  struggling  to  escape.  This  ele- 
ment of  your  system — or  faith,  if  you  choose  to  call  it  such — 
renders  it  impossible  for  your  people  to  live  in  harmony  with 
any  other  communities  in  our  land." 

The  supreme  court  of  the  Territory,  in  the  case  of  the 
United  States  v.  The  Church  (15  Pac.  467),  uses  this  language 
in  the  opinion  delivered  by  Chief  Justice  Zane : 

"At  the  head  of  this  corporate  body  (the  church),  accord- 
ing to  the  faith  professed,  is  a  seer  and  revelator  who  receives 
under  revelation  the  law  of  the  Infinite  God  concerning  the 
duty  of  Man  to  himself  and  to  his  fellow  beings,  to  society, 
to  mankind  and  to  God.  In  subordination  to  this  head  are  a 
vast  number  of  officers  of  various  kinds  and  description  com- 
prising a  most  minute  and  complete  organization.  The  peo- 
ple who  comprise  this  organization  claimed  to  be  directed  and 
led  by  inspiration  that  is  above  all  human  wisdom  and  subject 
to  a  power  above  all  municipal  government,  above  all  man- 
made  laws.  These  facts  belong  to  history,  therefore  we  have 
taken  notice  of  them." 

Governor  West,  in  a  message  to  the  territorial  legislature, 
said: 

"These  many  voices  of  the  past,  replete  with  anguish, 
ask  us  why — of  all  the  people  in  our  land  of  nearly  every 
nationality,  of  no  religion,  and  all  religions,  with  beliefs  and 
creeds  as  various  and  numerous  almost  as  the  different  nations 
of  men — should  this  people  stand  singular  and  alone  in  its 
woeful  history?  Can  anyone  doubt  who  approaches  with  un- 
prejudiced mind  the  consideration  of  the  question  that  the 
cause  is  founded  in  the  theocracy  established  and  maintained 
here,  in  the  education  of  the  people  to  believe  that  God  has 

21 


chosen  this  people  to  take  possession  of  the  earth  and  domi- 
nate and  control  all  other  peoples?  That  through  his  priest- 
hood God  governs  them  immediately,  not  alone  in  faith  and 
morals,  but  in  all  the  affairs  and  relations  of  life,  and  that  the 
council  of  the  priesthood  is  the  supreme  voice  of  God,  and 
must  be  obeyed  without  question." 

"It  necessarily  follows  that  perfect  and  complete  unity 
has  and  does  exist  among  the  Mormon  people;  an  absolute 
oneness,  without  division  and  dissent.  The  unity  in  the  State 
which  comes  from  a  fair  discussing  of  public  questions,  secur- 
ing by  merit  conviction  of  the  mind  and  triumph  of  the  right, 
is  desirable  and  commendable.  The  unity  that  is  obtained  by 
recognizing  the  supremacy  of  one  man,  or  set  of  men,  the  at- 
tributing to  him  or  them  a  knowledge  and  power  not  granted 
to  others — derived  from  a  superhuman  and  supreme  source, 
and  therefore  not  to  be  questioned,  but  must  be  obeyed — is 
the  establishment  of  complete  absolutism  in  those  holding 
power,  and  the  most  abject  and  servile  slavery  on  those  sub- 
mitting. The  submission  to  a  government  by  God  through 
his  priesthood,  and  the  unity  it  enforces,  brought  this  people 
to  accept,  sustain,  and  uphold  polygamy  whether  practicing 
it  or  not,  regardless  of  the  sentiment  of  the  Christian  world, 
and  in  defiance  to  the  laws  of  the  land." 

The  Utah  Commission,  composed  of  G.  Y.  Godfrey,  A. 
B.  Williams  and  ex-Governor  Arthur  L.  Thomas,  in  their 
report  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  said : 

"They  (the  Mormons)  have  established  in  the  Territory 
a  religious  system  with  a  political  attachment,  the  two  forming 
a  strong,  compact  government,  with  the  power  of  control 
centered  in  a  few  men  who  claim  the  right  to  speak  by  divine 
right,  and  whose  advice,  counsel  and  command  is  law  unto 
the  people." 

In  other  connections,  further  facts  in  support  of  my  state- 
ments will  be  set  forth.  The  eradication  of  the  intolerable 
conditions,  the  existence  of  which  in  the  Territory  I  have 
shown,  was  the  motive  which  inspired  the  outspoken  oppo- 
sition of  the  Gentiles.  In  Whitney's  history  these  unde- 
sirables are  variously  designated  as  "conspirators,"  "cru- 
saders," and  "the  ring."  In  view  of  these  evil  conditions 
which  existed,  the  Gentiles  would  have  shown  themselves  to 
be  wretched  miscreants  if  they  had  failed  to  organize  and 
make  a  vigorous  and  united  effort  to  end  the  iniquitous  sys- 
tem. They  organized  the  Liberal  party  for  that  purpose 
alone. 


22 


CHAPTER  II. 
The  Organization  of  the  Liberal  Party. 

In  1867  there  were  comparatively  few  Gentiles  either 
in  Salt  Lake  City,  or  the  Territory. 

After  business  hours  certain  Gentile  business  men  of  Salt 
Lake  City  were  in  the  habit  of  meeting  at  the  office  of  Abel 
Gilbert,  a  merchant,  and  a  gentleman  of  infinite  wit  and 
social  qualities.  At  these  meetings  the  state  of  affairs  in 
Utah  was  often  discussed  and  condemned.  At  one  of  the 
meetings  in  1867,  at  which  William  McGroarty,  several  other 
business  men  and  myself  were  present,  the  approaching 
election  of  delegate  to  Congress  having  been  mentioned  by 
someone,  I  stated  that  if  we  intended  to  stay  in  the  Territory 
we  should  organize  and  oppose  the  political  control  of  the 
priesthood.  As  my  suggestions  were  approved  by  all  of  the 
other  persons  present,  I  moved  that  we  begin  by  nominating 
Mr.  McGroarty  as  a  candidate  of  the  Gentiles  for  the  office 
of  delegate  to  Congress  in  opposition  to  Captain  Hooper,  the 
candidate  of  the  church  party  for  that  office.  McGroarty 
stroked  his  long  beard  and  said :  "Barkis  is  willing."  Where- 
upon my  motion  was  seconded,  and  passed  unanimously.  In 
a  few  days  afterwards  handbills  announcing  the  candidacy  of 
McGroarty  were  posted  in  the  city,  and  sent  to  the  various 
parts  of  the  Territory  where  there  were  any  Gentiles.  At  the 
election  McGroarty  received  105  votes.  McGroarty  contested 
Hooper's  seat,  the  main  purpose  of  the  contest  being  to  direct 
the  attention  of  Congress  and  the  nation  to  existing  conditions 
in  Utah.  That  purpose  was  accomplished  to  some  extent  by 
a  telling  speech  which  McGroarty  made  in  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives in  support  of  his  contest. 

Before  the  next  election  for  delegate  to  Congress  a  con- 
vention of  Gentiles  convened  at  Corinne,  organized  more 
formally  a  political  party  and  christened  it  the  "Liberal  party." 
That  party  continued  to  gain  strength  from  its  organization 
until  the  admission  of  the  Territory  as  a  State,  when  it  was 
dissolved.  Its  sole  motive  was,  as  before  stated,  to  correct  the 
abuses  prevalent  in  Utah,  and  to  establish  republican  American 

23 


rule  in  place  of  the  usurped  rule  of  the  priesthood  of  the 
Mormon  church.  In  1876  I  was  nominated  by  that  party  as 
a  candidate  for  the  office  of  delegate  to  Congress. 

John  C.  Young,  a  nephew  of  Brigham,  who  at  the  time 
of  his  death  was  postmaster  of  Portland,  Oregon,  and  Zera 
Snow,  the  son  of  a  prominent  Mormon,  who  at  present  is  one 
of  the  leading  lawyers  of  Portland,  accompanied  me  on  a 
stumping  tour  from  Salt  Lake  City  to  Logan,  and  we  made 
the  first  political  speeches  delivered  outside  of  Salt  Lake  City. 
To  use  a  common  expression,  these  young  men  "talked  out 
in  church."  At  Logan  our  meeting  was  almost  broken  up  by 
Mormons  evidently  sent  there  for  that  purpose.  It  was  very 
gratifying  to  me,  and  strengthened  my  faith  that  our  party 
would  ultimately  succeed  in  accomplishing  the  praiseworthy 
purpose  for  which  it  was  organized,  to  see  such  gifted  young 
men  of  Mormon  parentage  as  Young  and  Snow  fearlessly  face 
that  threatening  mob,  and  hear  them  defiantly  assert  their 
independence  and  right  as  free  American  citizens,  to  oppose 
the  arbitrary  dictation  and  political  control  of  the  priesthood 
of  the  Mormon  church.  I  wrote  a  letter  addressed  to  the 
chairman  of  the  committee  of  the  party  accepting  the  nomi- 
nation referred  to,  in  which  is  stated  what  the  Liberal  party 
was  striving  to  accomplish.  Its  context  follows : 

"Laws  necessary  to  protect  the  ballot  from  corruption 
and  fraud,  and  relieve  electors  from  all  fear  and  restraint  in 
the  exercise  of  the  elective  franchise,  are  vital  to  republican 
institutions.  As  the  territorial  legislature  has  not  only  failed 
to  enact  the  customary  laws  to  prevent  corruption,  fraud  and 
intimidation  in  elections,  but  on  the  contrary,  has  passed  laws 
which  facilitate  the  commission  of  these  wrongs,  the  Congress 
of  the  great  Republic  will  certainly  not  much  longer  withhold 
relief  from  a  minority  which  is  struggling  with  an  unscrupu- 
lous and  anti-republican  majority  for  that  birthright  of  free- 
men— a  fair  chance  at  the  polls.  The  political  status  of  the 
Territory  is  anomalous.  While  the  two  great  parties  of  the 
country  are  actively  engaged  in  every  State  and  other  terri- 
tories discussing  the  issue  of  the  pending  presidential  cam- 
paign, in  Utah  the  line  which  divides  the  great  national  parties 
is  not  drawn.  Here  an  issue  exists  which  has  never  arisen, 
and  I  pray  may  never  arise,  in  national  politics — an  issue,  the 
existence  and  settlement  of  which  in  other  nations  has  caused 
more  misery,  opened  wider  the  floodgates  of  evil  passion,  and 
caused  the  shedding  of  more  human  blood  than  all  of  the  other 
causes  of  civil  strife  added  together.  This  issue,  in  the  form 

24 


in  which  it  presents  itself  in  this  Territory,  is  democratic- 
American  principles  against  a  union  in  the  most  obnoxious 
form  of  Church  and  State.  Between  these  antagonistic  prin- 
ciples there  is  an  irrepressible  conflict  which  will  end  only 
by  the  triumph  of  the  former.  The  existence  of  such  anomal- 
ous issues  in  the  nineteenth  century,  within  the  jurisdiction 
of  the  greatest  and  freest  republic  on  the  face  of  the  earth,  is 
due  to  the  failure  of  Congress  in  the  exercise  of  its  revisory 
legislative  power  over  the  territories,  to  disapprove  the  numer- 
ous laws  which  have  remained  in  force  on  the  statute  books 
of  the  Territory  for  many  years,  and  which  were  enacted  by 
the  ecclesiastical  legislature  of  Utah  for  the  purpose  of  foster- 
ing theocratic  rule  and  defeating  the  execution  of  all  laws 
which  in  any  way  interfere  with  such  rule.  Also  to  the  failure 
of  Congress  to  pass  laws  necessary  to  put  into  successful 
operation,  in  fact  as  well  as  in  form,  a  republican  form  of 
government  in  the  Territory,  to  establish  the  supremacy  of 
law  therein,  and  provide  means  for  its  faithful  and  efficient 
execution.  Owing  to  the  imperfections  and  want  of  legislation 
for  the  Territory,  the  federal  government  is  powerless  to 
efficiently  execute  the  laws,  and  as  a  consequence  the  law  of 
1862,  which  prohibits  the  unlawful  practices  of  the  Mormon 
church,  remains  a  dead-letter,  and  will  so  continue  until 
Congress  remedies  the  evil  by  proper  legislation.  It  is  vain 
to  look  to  local  legislation  for  any  remedy,  because  local 
legislation  has  in  the  main  contributed  to  create  the  evil.  It 
is  beyond  the  power  of  any  man,  ring,  party,  or  church,  to  end 
this  conflict  between  democracy  and  theocracy,  except  by 
establishing  the  supremacy  of  the  former.  My  alien  antagonist 
(George  Q.  Cannon)  has  stated  to  the  Mormon  community 
that  I  am  their  worst  enemy.  I  assure  the  Mormon  people 
that  I  am  not  their  enemy,  but  their  friend.  I  claim  no  rights 
or  privileges  for  myself  as  an  American  citizen  which  I  do 
not  accord  to  my  fellow-citizens.  In  common  with  the  Liberal 
party  I  desire  the  establishment  of  the  supremacy  of  law, 
freedom  of  thought,  freedom  of  speech  and  freedom  of  action 
in  Utah  as  it  exists  in  other  states  and  territories  of  the  Union ; 
the  enactment  of  an  election  law  which  will  insure  honest  elec- 
tions and  enable  every  man,  however  poor  or  dependent  he  may 
be,  to  go  to  the  polls  and  freely  deposit  his  ballot  for  whomso- 
ever he  may  choose,  without  the  fear  of  the  infliction  of  eccles- 
iastical penalties ;  to  establish  a  system  under  which  every  one 
may  freely  and  fully  exercise  his  own  individuality,  choose  his 
own  business,  political  and  social  relations,  without  the  con- 
sent of  any  bigoted  apostle,  bishop,  or  teacher.  A  system  under 
which  every  man  will  have  an  equal  chance  with  every  other 
man — an  equal  chance  by  personal  worth  or  dint  of  honest 
effort  to  attain  the  highest  social,  political  and  business  ad- 
vancement without  having  to  lay  his  manhood  down  at  the 

25 


foot  of  the  priesthood,  or  kiss  the  great  toe  of  some  pretended 
prophet.  A  system  under  which  the  people,  and  not  the 
church,  may  freely  choose  their  own  rulers,  and  religious 
bigotry  cease  to  be  an  essential  requisite  to  the  attainment  of 
office  or  business  patronage.  A  system  which  will  put  an 
end  to  church  business  monopolies  and  church  aristocracy, 
restore  the  natural  laws  of  trade  and  social  intercourse,  and 
allow  without  question  every  man  to  manage  his  own  affairs, 
hold  the  title  to  his  own  property,1  and  run  the  course  of  life 
without  weight  upon  his  shoulders.  Such,  and  such  only,  are 
the  ends  which  the  Liberal  party  is  striving  to  gain,  and  which 
it  will  finally  accomplish.  The  present  campaign  is  just  as 
important  as  will  be  the  one  in  which  victory  is  eventually 
Avon  by  the  Liberal  party,  because  only  by  this  and  other 
similar  campaigns  can  the  temple  of  liberty  be  finally  reached." 

At  the  ensuing  election  I  received  about  5,000  votes,  which 
was  very  encouraging,  as  it  showed  that  since  the  candidacy  of 
McGroarty  the  party  had  greatly  increased  and  was  beginning 
to  present  a  formidable  front  to  its  antagonist.  At  the  Salt 
Lake  City  election  of  1889  the  Liberal  party  elected  George 
M.  Scott  as  mayor,  as  well  as  the  council  and  other  city 
officers.  Two  years  afterwards  the  party  again  carried  the 
city,  at  which  time  I  was  elected  mayor  and  held  office  for 
four  years.  When  I  was  installed  it  became  my  duty  to 
specially  investigate  existing  affairs  with  a  view  of  ascertain- 
ing what  the  necessities  of  the  city  required.  By  reason  of 
the  fact  that  but  slight  public  improvements  had  been  made 
before  the  Liberal  party  came  into  power,  and  the  church 
party  had  failed  to  make  such  improvements  during  the  many 
years  of  absolute  control,  gradually  as  the  necessity 
imposed  by  growth  arose,  I  found  that  it  required 
several  millions  more  money  to  make  of  Salt  Lake 
City  a  modern  city,  than  would  have  been  requisite 
had  the  previously  necessary  improvements  been  made ; 
that  the  waterworks  and  the  sewer  system  were  so  inadequate 
that  it  was  absolutely  essential  to  build,  almost  entirely,  new 
ones;  that  except  Commercial  street,  and  Main  and  State 
streets  for  two  blocks  each,  which  had  been  paved  during 
Scott's  term,  the  streets  in  the  business  center  of  the  city 
were  merely  graveled,  as  were  most  of  the  sidewalks  in  that 


*At  that  time,  the  "Order  of  Enoch"  had  been  established  by  the  priesthood,  and 
Vovc  Of  ty,P  Mormon  church  were  required  to  convey  all  of  their  property  to  that 
"Order,"  and  in  many  instances  such  conveyances  had  been  made. 

26 


center;  that  outside  of  the  center  the  streets  were  on  the 
native  soil,  as  also  the  sidewalks,  except  for  the  limited  dis- 
tance where  asphalt  had  been  laid  during  Scott's  term;  that 
a  woeful  lack  of  sanitary  conditions  existed;  that  in  most  of 
the  resident  portions  of  the  city  the  inhabitants  were  using 
water  from  wells,  and  that  in  their  vicinity  human  excrement 
had  for  years  been  deposited  in  cesspools  and  privies,  which 
had  become  a  menace  to  public  health  by  neglect;  that  in 
consequence,  the  city,  instead  of  being  among  the  healthiest 
as  natural  conditions  warranted,  was  third  in  mortality  in 
the  United  States,  and  that  a  general  cleansing  of  the  city 
was  imperatively  necessary. 

Thus  by  the  neglect  of  the  former  administration  of  the 
church  party  there  was  saddled  upon  the  subsequent  taxpayers 
an  enormous  burden.  The  public  improvements  necessary 
for  the  comfort  and  welfare  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  city  were 
too  great  to  be  made  during  one,  or  even  a  half  dozen  subsequent 
administrations,  and  to  raise  the  money  for  immediate  needs 
by  taxation  would  have  been  too  burdensome  for  the  taxpayers. 
The  Liberal  administrations,  therefore,  to  lighten  this  burden, 
issued  long-time  bonds  of  the  city,  so  that  future  generations 
which  would  enjoy  the  benefits  of  the  improvements  would 
also  have  to  defray  part  of  the  expense.  During  the  adminis- 
trations of  the  Liberal  party,  adequate  waterworks  and  a 
sewer  system  were  constructed,  the  streets  in  the  business 
portion  of  the  city  were  paved ;  many  miles  of  sidewalks  were 
laid ;  the  city  was  thoroughly  cleansed  and  made  as  healthful 
as  any  in  the  Rocky  mountains;  the  water  supply  was  in- 
creased; the  Joint  City  and  County  Building — the  pride  of 
all  beholders — was  completed,  and  in  all  respects  Salt  Lake 
City  was  brought  up  to  the  standard  of  a  city  of  the  first  class. 

We  are  mainly  indebted  to  the  Liberal  party  for  the  new 
era  in  Utah.  The  organization  of  that  party,  contrary  to  what 
the  masses  of  the  Mormon  people  were  taught  to  believe  by 
their  leaders,  has  not  resulted  in  evil,  but  in  great  good  to 
both  Mormons  and  Gentiles.  I  will  later  refer  to  the  beneficial 
results  of  that  organization  in  another  connection. 


27 


CHAPTER  HI. 

Outline  of  the  Cullom  Bill. 

By  my  investigations  before  referred  to  I  became  con- 
vinced that  existing  evils  could  only  be  corrected  by  adequate 
legislation  of  Congress,  and  therefore  as  I  had  mentally  re- 
solved while  looking  upon  the  mutilated  body  of  my  murdered 
client,  Doctor  Robinson,  to  do  all  that  I  possibly  could  do 
to  place  in  the  hands  of  the  federal  authorities  the  power  to 
punish  the  perpetrators  of  such  heinous  crimes,  I  drafted  the 
Cullom  bill,  which  contained  among  others  of  less  importance, 
the  following  provisions : 

Sec.  2.  Provides  that  the  United  States  marshal  and  his 
deputies  shall  be  the  executive  officers  of  the  district  courts. 

Sec.  4.  That  the  United  States  district  attorney  and  his 
deputies  shall  be  the  prosecuting  officers  of  said  courts. 

Sec.  7.  Prescribes  the  method  of  procuring  grand  and  petit 
juries. 

Sec.  10.  Provides  that  in  all  prosecutions  for  bigamy  and 
the  crimes  specified  in  this  act  no  person  shall  be  competent 
to  serve  as  grand  or  petit  jurors  who  believes  in,  advocates, 
or  practices  bigamy,  concubinage  or  polygamy,  and  upon  that 
fact  appearing  by  examination  on  voir  dire  or  otherwise,  such 
person  shall  not  be  permitted  to  serve  as  a  juror. 

Sec.  11.  That  in  all  prosecutions  for  bigamy,  concubinage 
and  adultery,  the  lawful  wife  of  the  accused  shall  be  a  compe- 
tent witness  to  prove  both  the  first  and  subsequent  marriage 
or  marriages  of  her  husband,  but  for  no  other  purpose. 

Sec.  12.  Be  it  further  enacted,  that  whereas  marriage  in 
said  Territory  of  Utah,  rests  solely  on  the  contract  of  the 
parties  followed  by  cohabitation,  there  being  no  form,  manner 
or  ceremony  prescribed  by  the  laws  of  said  Territory  for  the 
solemnization  of  this  important  relation  in  society  or  requiring 
recordation  certificate  or  publication  of  the  same;  that  in  all 
prosecutions  for  bigamy,  concubinage,  or  adultery,  it  shall 
not  be  necessary  to  prove  either  the  first  or  subsequent  mar- 
riages by  the  registration  or  certificate  thereof,  or  other  re- 
corded evidence  thereof,  but  the  same  may  be  proved  by  such 
evidence  as  is  admissible  to  prove  a  marriage  in  other  cases, 
and  proof  of  cohabitation  by  the  accused  with  more  than 

28 


one  woman  as  husband  and  wife,  his  declaration  and  admission 
that  such  women  are  his  wives,  his  acts  recognizing,  acknowl- 
edging, introducing,  treating  or  deporting  himself  towards 
them  as  such  shall,  unless  rebutted,  be  sufficient  to  sustain 
the  prosecution. 

Sec.  13.  That  any  man  in  said  Territory  who  shall,  after 
this  act  goes  into  effect,  live  or  cohabit  with  one  or  more 
women  other  than  his  lawful  wife  as  his  wife  or  wives,  shall 
be  adjudged  guilty  of  concubinage,  and  upon  conviction  thereof 
shall  be  punished  by  fine  not  exceeding  one  thousand  dollars, 
and  by  imprisonment  not  exceeding  five  years  at  hard  labor, 
and  in  all  prosecutions  for  the  violation  of  this  section  the 
adjudged  concubines  shall  be  competent  witnesses  to  estab- 
lish or  disprove  the  charge,  provided  that  no  statement  made 
by  any  such  witness  shall  be  used  against,  admitted,  or  allowed 
to  affect  them  in  any  case  whatever. 

Sec.  14.  That  the  statute  of  limitations  shall  not  bar  a 
prosecution  for  any  of  the  crimes  specified  by  this  act,  nor 
for  the  crime  of  bigamy,  concubinage,  or  adultery  hereafter 
committed. 

Sec.  17.  Provides  in  substance  that  in  case  the  United 
States  marshal,  or  any  of  his  deputies,  shall  be  resisted  or 
threatened  with  resistance  in  executing  any  writ  or  process  of 
any  court,  said  marshal  or  either  of  his  deputies  may  apply  to 
the  commander  of  any  military  camp  or  post  of  the  United 
States  in  said  Territory  for  a  posse  to  aid  such  officers.  Said 
commander  is  authorized  upon  such  application  to  furnish 
such  posse,  and  said  marshal  or  any  of  his  deputies  were  also 
authorized  to  make  such  application  when  necessary  to  sup- 
press any  mob,  riot  or  disturbance  of  the  peace. 

Sec.  19.  Provides  that  no  alien  living  in  or  practicing 
bigamy,  polygamy,  or  concubinage,  shall  be  admitted  to  citi- 
zenship of  the  United  States;  nor  shall  any  person  living  in 
or  practicing  bigamy,  polygamy  or  concubinage,  hold  any 
office  of  trust  or  profit  in  said  Territory,  vote  at  any  election 
therein  or  be  entitled  to  the  benefits  of  the  homestead  or 
pre-emption  laws. 

Sec.  23.  Provides  that  no  man,  a  resident  of  said  Territory, 
shall  marry  his  mother,  his  grandmother,  daughter,  grand- 
daughter, stepmother,  grandfather's  wife,  wife's  granddaughter, 
wife's  daughter,  nor  his  sister,  his  half-sister,  brother's 
daughters,  father's  sisters  or  mother's  sisters.1 

*At  that  time,  and  until  the  passage  of  the  Edmunds  Act  of  1882,  there  was  no 
law  against  incest.  George  D.  Watt,  who  was  connected  with  Brigham  Young's  office, 
and  who  reported  most  of  the  Mormon  sermons  contained  in  the  Journal  of  Discourses, 
had  married  his  half-sister  and  was  cohabiting  with  her.  There  had  been  marriages 
between  nephews  and  aunts,  and  numerous  polygamists  had  plural  wives  who  were 
sisters,  and  in  some  instances  were  a  mother  and  her  daughter. 

29 


The  penalty  for  violating  the  foregoing  section  was  imprison- 
ment for  not  more  than  twenty  years,  and  a  fine  of  not  more  than 
one  thousand  dollars. 

Sec.  24.  Prohibits  marking  the  ballots. 

Sec.  25.  Authorizes  the  probate  courts  to  try  and  de- 
termine civil  cases  wherein  the  debt  or  damages  claimed  did 
not  exceed  five  hundred  dollars,  and  in  criminal  cases  to  act 
as  committing  magistrates. 

Sec.  30.  Provides  a  method  by  which  polygamists  could 
be  compelled,  when  their  plural  wives  and  their  children 
were  in  need,  to  support  such  wives  and  children. 

By  the  provisions  of  said  bill  all  acts  and  part  of  acts  of 
the  territorial  legislature  inconsistent  with  said  bill  were  dis- 
approved. 

Every  one  of  these  provisions  except  those  relating  to  the 
statute  of  limitations,  the  homestead  and  pre-emption  laws, 
and  a  few  others  of  minor  importance  which  I  have  not  referred 
to,  were  afterwards,  in  substance,  incorporated  by  piecemeal 
in  the  Poland  act  of  1874,  the  Edmunds  act  of  1882, 
and  the  Edmunds-Tucker  bill  of  1887.  The  latter  added  sev- 
eral provisions  which  were  more  stringent  than  those  of  the 
Cullom  bill.  I  presented  a  draft  of  the  latter  bill  in  1869  at 
Washington  city  to  Senator  Cullom,  who  was  chairman  of  the 
House  Committee  on  Territories,  and  after  explaining  its 
bearing  on  the  Mormon  question,  he  introduced  it  and  had  it 
referred  to  his  committee.  Captain  Hooper  and  myself  dis- 
cussed it  before  the  committee,  he  opposing  and  I  favoring 
its  adoption:  The  committee  reported  it  to  the  House  and 
recommended  its  passage.  That  Senator  Cullom  understood 
what  legislation  was  required  to  put  an  end  to  the  evil  system 
at  which  the  provisions  of  the  bill  were  aimed,  the  following 
extract  of  his  speech  in  favor  of  its  passage  shows : 

"All  that  is  necessary  in  my  judgment  is  to  give  the  courts 
of  the  Territory  power  to  enforce  convictions  for  violations 
of  law  and  break  down  the  political  power  now  wielded  by  the 
Mormon  church,  and  show  thereby  that  the  government  of  the 
United  States  means  business  and  intends  to  use  all  the  ne- 
cessary means  to  crush  out  this  iniquity,  and  compel  obedi- 
ence to  law.  A  persistent,  straightforward  determination  to  do 
this  is  all  that  is  necessary;  and  if  this  course  is  pursued  these 
people  will  submit  to  law  as  the  people  of  other  portions  of 

30 


the  country  do  and  are  required  to  do.  I  am  either  for  the 
repeal  of  the  statute  of  1862,  making  bigamy  or  polygamy  a 
criminal  offense,  or  I  am  for  such  legislation  and  such  action 
on  our  part  as  will  compel  obedience  to  that  law  by 
the  Mormon  authorities  and  people.  *  *  *  Are  we  to  have 
any  legislation  that  will  effectually  crush  out  this  bold  and 
defiant  iniquity,  or  are  we  going  on  as  we  have  been  for  over 
thirty  years  allowing  this  practice  of  polygamy  and  bigamy  to 
flourish  in  violation  of  human  and  divine  laws,  cloaked  by  the 
title  of  Latter-day  Saints,  a  pretended  system  of  religion? 
Shall  we  continue  to  temporize  any  longer  with  it  and  allow  its 
defenders  and  abettors  to  go  unpunished?  But  if  we  are  to 
have  any  legislation  upon  the  subject,  let  us  have  such  legis- 
lation as  will  reach  the  evil  and  put  a  stop  to  it." 

The  bill  was  passed  in  the  House  by  a  large  majority. 
When  it  reached  the  Senate  it  was  referred  to  the  Committee 
on  Territories,  of  which  Senator  Nye  of  Nevada  was  chair- 
man. That  committee,  without  opposition,  directed  the  chair- 
man to  prepare  a  report  in  favor  of  the  passage  of  the  bill, 
and  present  it  to  the  Senate. 

Notwithstanding  the  fact  that  this  session  of  Congress 
would  end  in  thirty  days,  Nye,  although  I  frequently  urged 
him  to  do  so,  failed  to  prepare  the  report.  Had  the  bill  been 
reported  as  ordered,  I  do  not  think  there  is  the  least  doubt 
that  it  would  have  been  passed,  for  I  had  canvassed  the  Sen- 
ate. What  caused  Nye's  failure  is  a  matter  of  conjecture. 
Undoubtedly  the  enactment  of  the  Cullom  bill  in  1870  would 
at  a  much  earlier  day  have  caused  the  changed  conditions  in 
Utah  which  were  gradually  brought  about  by  the  various  acts 
of  Congress  afterward,  passed  piecemeal  during  the  lapse  of 
twenty  years. 


31 


CHAPTER  IV. 
The  Englebrecht  Case. 

There  is  no  better  commentary  on  the  social,  political 
and  religious  history  of  a  people  than  the  certified  record  of 
its  contemporaneous  court  decisions.  For  that  reason  I  shall 
take  the  liberty  to  cite  from  time  to  time  those  cases  which, 
I  believe,  are  characteristic  of  the  influences  which  domin- 
ated, and  the  spirit  which  actuated,  the  community  life  of 
Utah  at  this  time. 

Paul  Englebrecht  and  Christian  Rehemke,  in  1870,  were 
wholesale  liquor  dealers.  They  had  in  their  establishment  a 
stock  of  liquors  which  cost  them  before  shipment  from  the 
east,  according  to  the  sellers  invoices,  $20,000.  A  dispute  arose 
between  them  and  the  city  license  collector  as  to  the  amount 
which  they  were  liable  to  pay.  Jeter  Clinton,  the  police  mag- 
istrate of  the  city,  without  the  institution  of  any  suit,  or  giv- 
ing them  any  notice,  issued  a  warrant  to  the  city  marshal  re- 
quiring him  to  destroy  their  stock  of  liquor.  The  city  marshal 
and  a  number  of  the  police  force,  on  August  27,  1870,  entered 
their  establishment  and  rolled  and  carried  on  to  the  sidewalk, 
every  barrel,  keg,  bottle  and  vessel  containing  liquor,  and  with 
axes  and  hammers  broke  all  of  them  and  poured  the  contents 
into  the  gutters.  Likewise  was  destroyed  every  fixture  and 
article  used  in  their  business. 

As  the  attorney  of  Englebrecht  and  Rehemke,  I  instituted 
suit  in  the  third  district  court  to  recover  treble  damages 
allowed  by  the  provisions  of  a  Utah  statute  for  the  malicious 
destruction  of  property.  Judge  McKean  had  recently  been 
appointed  by  President  Grant  as  chief  justice  of  the  Territory, 
but  had  not  yet  arrived.  Associate  Justice  Strickland  had  been 
presiding  over  the  third  district  court,  and  as  the  Septem- 
ber term  of  that  court  was  near,  had  issued  an  open  venire  to 
the  United  States  marshal  on  which  that  officer  had  sum- 
moned a  grand  jury.  Chief  Justice  Wilson  was  the  prede- 
cessor of  Judge  McKean,  and  in  the  case  of  Orr  v.  McAllister 
had  decided  that  Orr,  who  was  United  States  marshal,  was 
the  proper  executive  officer  of  the  district  court,  and  that 

32 


McAllister,  who  was  territorial  marshal,  was  not.  The  ques- 
tion whether  the  United  States  attorney  and  marshal  or  the 
territorial  district  attorney  and  marshal  were  the  proper  pros- 
ecuting and.  executive  officers  of  the  district  court,  previous 
to  1870,  had  been  a  mooted  one.  The  question  hinged  upon  the 
character  of  the  district  courts.  If  they  were  United  States 
courts,  then  the  provisions  of  the  judiciary  act  of  1789  applied 
to  them,  and  the  United  States  district  attorney  and  marshal 
were  the  proper  prosecuting  and  executive  officers  of  those 
courts,  and  the  mode  of  summoning  said  grand  jury  was  cor- 
rect. By  the  sixth  section  of  that  act  the  supreme  court  of 
the  United  States  was  authorized  to  "make  rules  of  practice 
for  the  district  and  circuit  courts  of  the  United  States."  In 
pursuance  of  that  authority,  the  following  rule  was  made  by 
the  supreme  court  of  the  United  States  in  1864: 

"In  suits  in  equity  for  the  foreclosure  of  mortgages  in 
the  courts  of  the  United  States,  or  in  the  courts  of  the  terri- 
tories having  jurisdiction  of  the  same,  a  decree  may  be  rend- 
ered for  any  balance  that  may  be  found  due  to  the  complainant 
over  and  above  the  proceeds  of  the  sale  or  sales,  and  execu- 
tion may  issue  for  the  collection  of  the  same." 

Evidently  the  judges  of  the  supreme  court  of  the  United 
States  when  that  rule  was  made  regarded  the  district  courts 
in  the  territories  as  district  courts  of  the  United  States.  After 
the  Territory  of  Florida  was  admitted  into  the  Union,  an  act 
was  passed  by  the  State  placing  the  records  of  the  territorial 
court  of  appeals  in  the  custody  of  a  State  officer.  In  the  case 
of  Hunt  v.  Palao  et  al,  (4  How.  590),  the  question  whether 
the  United  States  or  the  State  of  Florida  should  control  the 
records  was  involved,  and  Chief  Justice  Taney,  in  the  opinion, 
said: 

"The  territorial  court  of  appeals  was  a  court  of  the  United 
States,  and  the  control  of  its  records  therefore  belonged  to  the 
general  government,  and  not  to  State  authorities." 

When  Judge  McKean  opened  the  September  term  of  the 
third  district  court  in  1870,  to  which  he  had  been  assigned, 
he  found  in  attendance  a  grand  jury  which  had  been  im- 
paneled on  an  open  venire  issued  by  his  associate,  Justice 
Strickland,  summoned  by  the  United  States  marshal.  Jeter 
Clinton,  and  the  police  officers  who  had  destroyed  the  stock 
of  liquor  mentioned,  had  been  arrested  on  the  charge  of 
maliciously  destroying  said  property,  and  were  under  bonds 

33 


pending  the  action  of  the  grand  jury.  Upon  the  opening 
of  the  court,  their  attorneys  challenged  the  array  of  the  grand 
jury.  Major  Hempstead,  who  was  the  United  States  attorney, 
and  myself,  made  arguments  in  opposition  to  the  challenge, 
and  referred  the  court  to  the  rule  of  the  supreme  court  of 
the  United  States  before  mentioned,  the  decisions  in  Hunt 
v.  Palao  and  of  ex-Chief  Justice  Wilson  in  the  case  of  Orr 
v.  McAllister,  and  various  acts  of  Congress  bearing  upon  the 
question.  The  challenge  was  overruled.  Respecting  that 
ruling,  the  following  comment  is  made  in  the  second  volume 
of  Whitney's  history,  page  565 : 

"With  the  jurisdiction  of  the  probate  courts  limited  and 
curtailed  as  to  throw  most  of  the  criminal  and  civil  cases  that 
might  arise  into  the  district  courts,  and  those  courts  presided 
over  and  officered  by  men  working  all  but  confessedly  in  the 
anti-Mormon  cause;  with  the  power  to  select  juries  from 
which  every  Mormon  was  carefully  excluded  and  none  but 
non-Mormons  chosen  to  find  indictments  or  to  render  ver- 
dicts, the  conspirators  were  jubilant  and  in  high  feather,  and 
the  rights  and  liberties  of  the  people  at  large  in  imminent 
jeopardy.  The  revolution  anticipated  by  the  anti-Mormons 
was  at  hand.  The  Mormons  were  at  the  mercy  of  their 
enemies.  The  cause  of  'the  ring'  was  paramount." 

Prior  to  this  time  I  had  never  known  of  a  Gentile,  under 
the  Mormon  method,  being  selected  to  serve  either  as  a  grand 
or  a  petit  juror.  After  the  jury  system  was  changed,  and 
under  the  fifth  section  of  the  Edmunds  law  of  1882,  any  one 
"believing  it  right  for  a  man  to  have  more  than  one  living 
and  undivorced  wife  at  the  same  time,  or  to  live  in  the  practice 
of  cohabiting  with  more  than  one  woman"  was  disqualified, 
and  every  member  of  the  Mormon  church  for  that  reason  was 
excluded  from  the  juries  in  the  numerous  trials  of  persons 
charged  with  the  crime  of  unlawful  cohabitation,  which  oc- 
curred after  the  passage  of  that  law.  No  innocent  person  was 
ever  indicted  or  convicted.  I  do  not  think  that  even  Whitney, 
unscrupulous  as  his  history  shows  him  to  be,  will  deny  that 
fact.  Nor  do  I  think  he  really  believed  that  the  persons  whom 
he  called  "crusaders"  and  "conspirators"  had  any  other  mo- 
tive than  to  correct  existing  evils,  and  substitute  in  fact  a 
republican  system  in  place  of  an  un-American,  Asiatic  system 
established  and  maintained  in  the  Territory  by  the  high  priest- 
hood of  the  Mormon  church. 

34 


The  Englebrecht  case  was  tried  before  a  jury  summoned 
in  the  same  way  the  grand  jury  had  been.  The  plaintiff  re- 
covered judgment  for  treble  damages.  The  supreme  court 
of  the  United  States  reversed  the  judgment  on  the  ground  that 
the  jury  was  not  obtained  in  the  manner  prescribed  by  the 
territorial  legislature.  It  was  also  held  that  the  district 
courts  of  the  Territory  were  not  United  States  courts,  and 
thereby  that  court  not  only  reversed  Judge  McKean's  decision 
on  that  point,  but  also  one  of  its  own,  to  wit,  Hunt  v.  Palao. 
Judge  McKean's  decision  was,  however,  approved  by  Congress, 
for  afterwards  its  substance  was  included  in  the  acts  passed 
by  that  body.  While  the  judicial  proceedings  in  the  Engle- 
brecht case  are  truthfully  stated  by  Whitney,  his  unjust  de- 
ductions and  insinuations  regarding  the  case,  as  in  many  other 
matters,  show  his  bigotry. 

Judge  McKean  entered  upon  the  discharge  of  his  official 
duties  a  few  days,  after  his  arrival  in  the  Territory.  Among 
the  first  questions  submitted  to  him  was  the  mooted  one 
before  mentioned.  His  decision  of  it  accorded  with  the  de- 
cisions of  his  predecessor,  Chief  Justice  Wilson,  and  of  his 
associate,  Judge  Strickland,  and  with  the  rule  and  decision  of 
the  supreme  court  of  the  United  States  before  quoted,  and 
was  afterwards  sustained  by  the  supreme  court  of  the  Terri- 
tory. A  search  of  our  supreme  court  reports  will  disclose  the 
fact  that  numerous  decisions  of  the  lower  court  have  been 
reversed,  and  that  our  supreme  court  has  frequently  reversed 
its  own  decisions.  This  has  been  done  by  every  supreme 
court  in  the  Union,  as  also  by  the  supreme  court  of  the 
United  States;  yet,  notwithstanding  this,  and  that  Judge 
McKean's  decision  should  have  been  the  law — and  was  after- 
wards, in  substance,  made  the  law  by  the  acts  of  Congress — 
his  action  in  so  deciding  is  bitterly  decried  in  Whitney's  his- 
tory, as  is  the  action  of  nearly  everyone  who  has  held  a  federal 
office  in  the  Territory,  and  of  nearly  every  individual  who  has 
actively  opposed  the  control  of  governmental  affairs  by  the 
priesthood.  After  the  Englebrecht  case  was  reversed,  it  was 
again  tried  and  the  plaintiff  recovered  a  judgment.  And  as  it 
was  doubtful  whether  even  the  original  cost  of  the  liquor 
could  be  obtained  on  execution,  the  plaintiff  accepted  the 
offer  of  the  defendant's  attorney  to  pay  the  original  cost 
of  the  property  destroyed.  That  amount  was  paid  by  money 
taken  from  the  city  treasury. 

35 


CHAPTER  V. 

Bill  Hickman's  Confession;  Conviction  of  Hawkins;  the  Law 
of  Marital  Relations  Defined ;  the  Uprise  and  Downfall  of 
Tom  Fitch;  Vindication  of  Judge  Zane. 

One  evening  in  1872,  Samuel  Gilson,  who  discovered  the 
gilsonite  deposits  in  eastern  Utah,  came  to  my  office  and 
informed  me  that  the  United  States  marshal  held  a  warrant 
for  the  arrest  of  Bill  Hickman,  and  that  he  was  hiding  to 
avoid  arrest  by  the  marshal  and  escape  assassination  by  mem- 
bers of  the  Danite  organization  of  which  he  had  formerly 
been  an  active  member.  That  having  piloted  General  Connor's 
soldiers  into  Utah,  and  having  severed  his  connection  with 
that  organization,  his  former  Danite  associates  had  become 
suspicious  of  him,  and  were  seeking  his  life,  and  that  he 
wanted  to  employ  me  as  his  attorney.  I  most  positively  re- 
fused to  become  Hickman's  attorney.  Mr.  Gilson  then  stated 
that  Hickman  had  expressed  a  desire  to  make  a  confession, 
and  that  even  if  I  did  not  accept  the  offer  of  employment, 
that  if  I  would  agree  to  meet  him  he  thought  Hickman  was 
in  such  a  state  of  mind  that  he  would  tell  me  what  he  knew 
regarding  the  numerous  murders  which  had  been  committed 
in  the  Territory.  As  I  was  desirous  of  ascertaining  whether 
such  an  organization  as  the  Danites  or  "Destroying  Angels"- 
which  was  so  much  talked  about  and  feared,  especially  by 
apostate  Mormons — actually  existed,  and  as  Hickman — if  it 
did  exist — would  know,  I  consented  to  meet  him  and  instructed 
Mr.  Gilson  to  inform  him  of  that  fact.  In  a  short  time  after- 
ward Mr.  Gilson  returned  to  my  office  and  said  that  Hickman 
was  ready  to  meet  me  if  I  would  promise  not  to  have  him 
arrested.  This  I  promised.  Hickman,  about  eleven  o'clock 
at  night,  in  company  with  Mr.  Gilson,  came  to  my  office.  I 
had  never  seen  Hickman  before.  After  we  had  been  formally 
introduced  by  Gilson,  I  stated  to  Hickman  what  Gilson  had 
told  me  respecting  his  inclination  to  tell  what  he  knew  about 
the  matters  before  mentioned.  He  hesitated,  and  I  said  to 
him  that  if,  as  generally  asserted,  he  was  or  had  been  a  mem- 
ber of  such  an  organization,  and  had  participated  in  the  numer- 

36 


ous  murders  which  had  been  committed  in  the  Territory,  that 
the  only  atonement  now  within  his  power  was  to  reveal  the 
facts,  as  it  might  aid  in  preventing  the  commission  of  other 
like  crimes.  After  deliberating  for  about  a  minute,  he  said 
that  during  his  seclusion  his  mind  had  been  greatly  dis- 
turbed by  the  matter,  and  that  he  had  finally  concluded  to 
reveal  the  facts  to  me,  although  in  doing  so  he  would  acknowl- 
edge his  own  guilt.  Procuring  a  pad  and  pencil  I  took  down 
all  that  he  said  and  also  cross-examined  him  closely.  We  were 
together  several  hours.  At  that  meeting  he  revealed  most  of 
the  numerous  crimes  contained  in  his  published  confession, 
but  in  more  minute  detail.  I  told  him  that  I  wanted  him  to 
meet  me  again  and  repeat  his  statements.  This  he  consented 
to  do.  Within  two  or  three  weeks  thereafter  I  met  him  a 
second  time  and,  as  before,  took  down  what  he  said  and  cross- 
examined  him.  My  purpose  in  doing  this  was  to  test  the 
truth  of  his  confession,  because  if  not  true,  his  several  state- 
ments would  in  all  probability  be  inconsistent.  At  various 
times  when  I  had  leisure  I  critically  examined  and  compared 
the  statements,  and  while  in  the  second  one  he  mentioned  two 
cases  of  murder  which  he  had  omitted  in  the  first  one,  and 
in  the  second  added  some  details  which  were  not  contained  in 
the  first,  I  failed  to  detect  any  contradictory  statements.  The 
statements  of  other  persons  made  to  me  tended  to  corroborate 
his  confessions.  Having  become  satisfied  that  Hickman  told 
me  the  truth,  and  at  my  request  he  having  consented  to  go 
before  the  grand  jury  and  tell  what  he  had  revealed  to  me,  I 
placed  the  statements  which  I  had  so  written  in  the  hands  of 
Major  Hempstead,  who  was  the  United  States  district  attor- 
ney, and  informed  him  that  Hickman  was  ready  to  go  before 
the  grand  jury  and  testify  to  the  matters  therein  set  forth. 
In  a  few  days  afterwards  I  saw  him,  and,  while  talking  the 
matter  over,  asked  him  if  he  intended  to  have  Hickman  appear 
before  the  grand  jury.  He  replied  that  in  view  of  the  recent 
assassination  of  Doctor  Robinson  it  would  be  hazardous  to 
indict  Brigham  Young  and  the  other  persons  implicated  by 
Hickman.  In  reply,  I  said  that  in  any  other  place  than  Utah 
such  a  confession  would  cause  an  investigation  by  the  grand 
jury,  and  that  I  thought  he  would  be  derelict  in  the  discharge 
of  his  duties  if  he  failed  to  move  in  the  matter.  He  returned 

37 


the  statements  and  nothing  further  passed  between  us  on  the 
subject. 

A  grand  jury  had,  in  accordance  with  the  decision  of 
Judge  McKean,  been  summoned  for  the  approaching  term 
of  the  district  court.  Upon  entering  the  courtroom  on  the 
morning  that  court  was  opened  at  that  term,  I  was  informed 
by  the  Judge  that  Major  Hempstead  had  resigned  as  district 
attorney,  and  that  his  resignation  had  been  accepted.  He 
read  from  a  statute  of  the  United  States  a  provision  which 
authorized  a  district  judge,  in  case  of  a  vacancy  in  the  office  of 
district  attorney  or  marshal,  to  appoint  a  person  to  exercise 
the  duties  of  the  vacant  office  until  such  vacancy  should  be 
filled,  and  said  he  intended  to  appoint  me  if  I  would  accept  the 
position.  Notwithstanding  I  did  not  desire  the  appointment, 
I  accepted  without  the  least  hesitation,  because  I  could  not 
with  good  grace  decline  a  position  in  which  it  would  become 
my  duty  to  do  what  I  had  urged  upon  Major  Hempstead,  my 
most  intimate  and  respected  friend. 

Upon  entering  upon  the  discharge  of  my  duties  I  deter- 
mined to  procure  indictments  against  the  officers  of  the  Mor- 
mon church  for  their  violations  of  the  law  against  polygamy, 
but  I  soon  found  that  it  could  not  be  done  because  it  was 
necessary  to  prove  both  the  first  and  plural  marriages.  I 
was  unable  to  prove  the  latter  because  they  were  entered  into 
in  the  secret  precincts  of  the  ''endowment  house"  of  the  Mor- 
mon church,  and  were  not  made  public,  but  carefully  concealed. 
As  the  legislature  had  passed  no  law  whatever  on  the  subject 
of  marriage,  it  was  almost  impossible  to  procure  evidence  even 
of  the  first  marriage  in  any  criminal  prosecution  of  a  polyga- 
mist. 

In  1852  the  legislature  had  passed  an  act  entitled,  "An  act 
in  relation  to  crimes  and  punishments."  Sections  31  and  32 
are  as  follows: 

"Sec.  31.  Every  person  who  commits  the  crime  of  adul- 
tery shall  be  punished  by  imprisonment  not  exceeding  twenty 
years,  and  not  less  than  three  years,  or  by  fine  not  exceeding 
one  thousand  dollars,  and  not  less  than  three  hundred  dollars, 
or  by  both  fine  and  imprisonment,  at  the  discretion  of  the 
Court.  And  when  the  crime  is  committed  between  parties, 
any  one  of  whom  is  married,  both  are  guilty  of  adultery,  and 
shall  be  punished  accordingly.  No  prosecution  for  adultery 

38 


can  be  commenced  but  on  the  complaint  of  the  husband  or 
wife. 

"Sec.  32.  If  any  man  and  woman,  not  being  married  to 
each  other,  lewdly  and  lasciviously  associate  and  cohabit  to- 
gether *  *  *  every  such  person  so  offending  shall  be 
punished  by  imprisonment  not  exceeding  ten  years,  and  not 
less  than  six  months,  and  fined  not  more  than  one  thousand 
and  not  less  than  one  hundred  dollars,  or  both,  at  the  discre- 
tion of  the  court." 

Shortly  after  my  appointment,  the  wife  of  Thomas  Haw- 
kins came  to  my  office,  and  made  me  the  following  statement : 
She  said  that  she  and  her  husband  were  married  in  England; 
that  they  joined  the  Mormon  church  and  came  to  Salt  Lake 
City;  that  for  several  years  after  their  arrival  they  lived  hap- 
pily together ;  that  they  were  poor  and  struggled  hard  to  accu- 
mulate sufficient  means  to  procure  a  comfortable  home.  That 
she  did  washing  for  outsiders ;  that  when  by  rigid  economy 
they  had  accumulated  sufficient  money,  they  bought  a  small 
piece  of  ground  and  built  thereon  a  small  comfortable  dwelling 
house,  and  lived  peacefully  and  happily  in  it  for  several  years, 
until  her  husband  against  her  will  brought  into  the 
house  another  woman  whom  he  claimed  to  have  mar- 
ried as  a  second  wife ;  that  they  were  occupying  a 
bedchamber  next  to  her  own  with  a  dividing  partition 
so  light  that  she  could  hear  all  that  transpired  be- 
tween them.  As  there  was  a  grand  jury  in  session,  I  said  that 
her  husband  could  be  indicted  and  punished  if  she  would  go 
before  the  grand  jury  and  testify  to  the  facts  as  stated  to  me. 
This  she  very  readily  consented  to  do.  Hawkins  was  indicted 
for  adultery  and  convicted.  Mrs.  Hawkins  was  the  principal 
witness  for  the  prosecution.  The  defense  objected  to  her 
testifying  on  the  ground  that  being  the  defendant's  wife  she 
was  disqualified  as  a  witness  against  him,  but  that  objection 
was  overruled  on  the  ground  that  under  the  provisions  of  the 
territorial  enactments  permitting  the  husband  or  wife  to  tes- 
tify in  a  criminal  proceeding  for  a  crime  committed  by  one 
against  the  other,  and  authorizing  the  wife  to  institute  a 
criminal  proceeding  against  her  husband  for  committing  adul- 
tery, Mrs.  Hawkins  was  a  competent  witness.  On  examining 
her  at  the  trial  I  was  careful  not  to  elicit  any  except  the  fol- 
lowing facts :  That  she  and  her  husband  were  married  in 

39 


England;  that  they  came  to  Salt  Lake  City  and  lived  there 
in  the  residence  which  they  built;  and  that  her  husband  and 
the  other  woman  slept  together  in  the  same  bedchamber  in 
said  residence.  Knowledge  of  none  of  these  facts  was  gained 
by  Mrs.  Hawkins  from  any  confidential  communications  of 
her  husband. 

In  the  case  of  The  State  v.  Vollander  (57  Minn.,  255),  it 
was  held  that  upon  a  charge  of  adultery,  the  testimony  of 
the  injured  husband  or  wife  was  competent  to  prove  the 
offense.  In  the  opinion,  after  stating  that  other  courts  had 
held  otherwise  on  the  ground  of  public  policy,  the  Court  said : 

"In  this  State  the  matter  of  public  policy  is  settled  by  the 
statute  which  provides  that  no  prosecution  for  adultery  shall 
be  commenced  except  on  the  complaint  of  the  husband  or 
wife,  save  when  insane.  If  it  be  consistent  with  public  policy 
that  the  injured  alone  may  institute  the  prosecution,  it  cannot 
be  inconsistent  with  it  that  he  or  she  may  support  it  against 
the  paramour  by  testifying  to  facts  within  his  or  her  knowl- 
edge; and  it  would  be  strange  if  the  party  may  make  com- 
plaint, but  may  give  no  evidence  in  support  of  it." 

Under  a  statute  permitting  the  husband  or  wife  to  testify 
in  a  criminal  proceeding  for  a  crime  committed  by  one  against 
the  other,  the  supreme  court  of  Nebraska,  in  the  case  of  Lord 
v.  The  State  (Northwestern  R.  507),  held  that,  on  the  trial 
of  a  husband  on  an  indictment  for  adultery,  a  wife  was  a 
competent  witness  against  him. 

The  same  doctrine  as  the  above  was  held  under  the 
same  statutory  provisions  as  the  foregoing  in  31  Iowa,  24; 
55  Iowa,  219;  59  Iowa,  165 ;  5  Texas  Ct.  App.,  447  and  9  Texas 
Ct.  App.  277.  In  the  case  in  Texas,  on  the  trial  of  a  woman  for 
adultery,  it  was  held  that  her  husband  was  a  competent  wit- 
ness against  her. 

Section  5014  of  the  Revised  Statutes  of  Utah,  enacted  by 
the  territorial  legislature  in  1870  and  in  force  at  the  time  the 
Hawkins  case  was  tried,  contains  the  same  provisions  as 
those  upon  which  the  foregoing  decisions  were  based. 

In  the  case  of  the  United  States  v.  Bassett  (5  Utah,  131), 
Chief  Justice  Zane  delivered  the  opinion  in  which  was  held 
that  under  this  section  of  the  statute  (5014,  above  referred 
to),  in  a  prosecution  for  polygamy,  the  wife  is  a  competent 
witness  against  her  husband  because  polygamy  is  a  crime 

40 


against  the  wife.  The  wife  of  Bassett,  on  the  trial  of  that 
case,  was  permitted  to  testify  over  the  objection  of  the  de- 
fendant's attorneys.  Judge  Zane,  after  quoting  from  the  cases 
above  referred  to,  said,  "Other  supreme  courts  have  held  to  the 
contrary,  under  similar  statutes,  but  we  are  clearly  of  the 
opinion  that  upon  principle  and  upon  authority,  the  wife 
was  a  competent  witness."  Associate  Justices  Boreman  and 
Henderson  concurred  in  the  opinion.  But  the  judgment  in 
the  Bassett  case,  as  in  the  Englebrecht  case,  was  reversed 
by  the  supreme  court  of  the  United  States. 

A  polygamist,  if  he  cohabits  with  his  plural  wife  is  guilty 
of  both  polygamy  and  adultery,  as  will  hereafter  be  shown, 
but  Hawkins  was  only  indicted  for  the  latter  crime,  because 
the  plural  marriage  could  not  be  proved  by  Mrs.  Hawkins. 
As  Whitney  has  been  a  Mormon  bishop,  and  has  taken  the 
oath  of  secrecy  administered  in  the  endowment  house,  he 
knows  perfectly  well  that  until  the  Edmunds  law  of  1882 
was  passed — which  made  unlawful  cohabitation  a  crime — it 
was  impossible  to  punish  any  one  for  practicing  polygamy; 
and  that  the  law  of  1862  could  not  be  enforced  in  the  slightest 
degree  at  any  time.  No  one,  even  today,  if  he  were  indicted 
for  polygamy,  can  be  convicted,  because  plural  marriages  at 
the  present  time  are  secretly  performed  and  concealed,  and 
cannot  be  proven.  Brigham  Young  was  a  "foxy  chap,"  and 
had  procured  such  territorial  legislation  and  such  secrecy 
respecting  plural  marriage  as  to  give  polygamy  immunity; 
and  he  exulted  over  the  fact  in  a  sermon  before  quoted,  in 
which  he  said :  "If  I  have  forty  wives  in  the  United  States, 
they  (our  enemies)  do  not  know  it,  and  could  not  sub- 
stantiate it." 

The  difficulty  of  procuring  either  the  indictment  or  con- 
viction of  a  polygamist  is  illustrated  by  the  case  of  Miles  v. 
United  States  (103  U.  S.,  395).  Miles  was  found  guilty  by 
the  jury  in  the  lower  court,  but  the  supreme  court  of  the 
United  States  reversed  the  judgment.  Special  facts  relative 
to  that  case  are  stated  in  another  connection  hereinafter.  The 
following  quotations  are  from  the  opinion  in  that  case,  de- 
livered by  Mr.  Justice  Woods : 

"Upon  the  trial,  evidence  was  given  tending  to  show 
that  a  short  time  before  the  date  laid  in  the  indictment,  Oct. 
24,  1878,  the  plaintiff  in  error  was  in  treaty  for  marrying, 

41 


at  or  about  the  same  time,  three  young  women,  namely, 
Emily  Spencer,  Caroline  Owens,  and  Julia  Spencer,  and  that 
there  was  a  discussion  between  them  on  the  question  which 
should  be  the  first  wife ;  and  that  upon  appeal  to  John  Taylor, 
president  of  the  Mormon  church,  the  plaintiff  in  error  and  the 
three  women  being  present,  it  was  decided  by  him  that  Emily 
Spencer,  being  the  eldest,  should  be  the  first  wife;  Caroline 
Owens,  being  the  next  younger,  the  second;  and  Julia 
Spencer,  being  the  youngest,  the  third  wife — that  being  accord- 
ing to  the  rules  of  the  church. 

"It  appeared  further  that  marriages  of  persons  belonging 
to  the  Mormon  church  usually  take  place  at  what  is  called 
the  endowment  house;  that  the  ceremony  is  performed  in 
secret,  and  the  person  who  officiates  is  under  a  sacred  obliga- 
tion not  to  disclose  the  names  of  the  parties  to  it. 

"It  further  appeared  that  on  Oct.  24,  1878,  the  plaintiff 
in  error  was  married  to  the  said  Caroline  Owens,  and  that  on 
the  night  of  that  day  he  gave  a  wedding  supper  at  the  house 
of  one  Cannon,  at  which  were  present  Emily  Spencer,  Caroline 
Owens,  and  others.  Evidence  tending  to  establish  these  facts 
having  been  given  to  the  jury,  the  court  permitted  to  be 
given  in  evidence  the  declaration  made  by  the  plaintiff  in 
error,  on  that  night,  in  presence  of  the  company  assembled, 
and  on  subsequent  occasions,  to  the  effect  that  Emily  Spencer 
was  his  first  wife.  *  *  *  *  * 

"The  plaintiff  in  error  lastly  claims  that  the  court  erred 
in  allowing  Caroline  Owens,  the  second  wife,  to  give  evidence 
against  him  touching  his  marriage  with  Emily  Spencer,  the 
alleged  first  wife;  and  in  charging  the  jury  that  they  might 
consider  her  testimony,  if  they  found  from  all  the  evidence 
in  the  case  that  she  was  a  second  and  plural  wife. 

"This  assignment  of  error,  we  think,  is  well  founded. 

"The  law  of  Utah4  declares  that  a  husband  shall  not  be 
a  witness  for  or  against  his  wife,  nor  a  wife  for  or  against 
her  husband. 

"The  marriage  of  the  plaintiff  in  error  with  Caroline 
Owens  was  charged  in  the  indictment  and  admitted  by  him 
upon  the  trial.  The  fact  of  his  previous  marriage  with  Emily 
Spencer  was,  therefore,  the  only  issue  in  the  case,  and  that 
was  contested  to  the  end  of  the  trial.  Until  the  fact  of  the 
marriage  of  Emily  Spencer  with  the  plaintiff  in  error  was 
established,  Caroline  Owens  was  prima  facie  his  wife,  and 
she  could  not  be  used  as  a  witness  against  him. 

"The  ground  upon  which  a  second  wife  is  admitted  as  a 
witness  against  her  husband,  in  a  prosecution  for  bigamy,  is 
that  she  is  known  not  to  be  a  real  wife  by  proof  of  the  fact 
that  the  accused  had  previously  married  another  wife,  who 

was  still  living  and  still  his  lawful  wife.     It  is  only  in  cases 

i 

42 


where  the  first  marriage  is  not  controverted,  or  has  been  duly 
established  by  other  evidence,  that  the  second  wife  is  allowed 
to  testify,  and  she  can  then  be  a  witness  to  the  second  mar- 
riage, and  not  to  the  first. 

"The  testimony  of  the  second  wife  to  prove  the  only  con- 
troverted issues  in  the  case,  namely,  the  first  marriage,  cannot 
be  given  to  the  jury  on  the  pretext  that  its  purpose 
is  to  establish  her  competency.  As  her  competency  de- 
pends on  proof  of  the  first  marriage,  and  that  is  the  issue 
upon  which  the  case  turns,  that  issue  must  be  established  by 
other  witnesses  before  the  second  wife  is  competent  for  any 
purpose.  Even  then  she  is  not  competent  to  prove  the  first 
marriage,  for  she  cannot  be  admitted  to  prove  a  fact  to  the 
jury  which  must  be  established  before  she  can  testify  at  all. 
"  "Witnesses  who  are  prima  facie  competent,  but  whose 
competency  is  disputed,  are  allowed  to  give  evidence  on  their 
voire  dire  to  the  court  upon  some  collateral  issue,  on  which 
their  competency  depends,  but  the  testimony  of  a  witness  who 
is  prima  facie  incompetent  cannot  be  given  to  the  jury  upon 
the  very  issue  in  the  case,  in  order  to  establish  his  competency, 
and  at  the  same  time  prove  the  issue. 

"The  result  of  the  authorities  is  that,  as  long  as  the  fact 
of  the  first  marriage  is  contested,  the  second  wife  cannot  be 
admitted  to  prove  it.  When  the  first  marriage  is  duly  estab- 
lished by  other  evidence,  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  court,  she 
may  be  admitted  to  prove  the  second  marriage,  but  not  the 
first,  and  the  jury  should  have  been  so  instructed. 

"In  this  case  the  injunction  of  the  law  of  Utah,  that  the 
wife  should  not  be  a  witness  for  or  against  her  husband,  was 
practically  ignored  by  the  court.  After  some  evidence  tend- 
ing to  show  the  marriage  of  plaintiff  in  error  with  Emily 
Spencer,  but  that  fact  being  still  in  controversy,  Caroline 
Owens,  the  second  wife,  was  put  upon  the  stand  and  allowed 
to  testify  to  the  first  marriage,  and  the  jury  were,  in  effect, 
told  by  the  court  that  if,  from  her  evidence  and  that  of  other 
witnesses  in  the  case,  they  were  satisfied  of  the  fact  of  the 
first  marriage,  then  they  might  consider  the  evidence  of 
Caroline  Owens  to  prove  the  first  marriage. 

"In  other  words,  the  evidence  of  a  witness,  prima  facie 
incompetent,  and  whose  competency  could  only  be  shown 
by  proof  of  a  fact  which  was  the  one  contested  issue  in  the 
case,  was  allowed  to  go  to  the  jury  to  prove  that  issue  and 
at  the  same  time  to  establish  the  competency  of  the  witness. 

"In  this  we  think  the  court  erred. 

"It  is  made  clear  by  the  record  that  polygamous  mar- 
riages are  so  celebrated  in  Utah  as  to  make  the  proof  of 
polygamy  very  difficult.  They  are  conducted  in  secret,  and 
the  persons  by  whom  they  are  solemnized  are  under  such 
obligations  of  secrecy  that  it  is  almost  impossible  to  extract 

43 


the  facts  from  them  when  placed  upon  the  witness  stand. 
If  both  wives  are  excluded  from  testifying  to  the  first  marriage, 
as  we  think  they  should  be  under  the  existing  rules  of  evidence, 
testimony  sufficient  to  convict  in  a  prosecution  for  polygamy 
in  the  Territory  of  Utah  is  hardly  attainable.  But  this  is  not 
a  consideration  by  which  we  can  be  influenced.  We  must 
administer  the  law  as  we  find  it.  The  remedy  is  with  Congress, 
by  enacting  such  a  change  in  the  law  of  evidence  in  the  Terri- 
tory of  Utah  as  to  make  both  wives  witnesses  on  indictments 
for  bigamy. 

"For  the  error  indicated,  the  judgment  of  the  supreme 
court  of  the  Territory  of  Utah  must  be  reversed  and  the 
cause  remanded  to  that  court,  to  be  by  it  remanded  to  the 
district  court,  with  directions  to  set  aside  the  verdict  and 
judgment  and  award  a  venire  facias  de  novo." 

Notwithstanding  Whitney's  knowledge  of  the  foregoing 
facts,  in  his  history  he  upbraided  Judge  McKean  and  myself, 
because  Hawkins  was  not  indicted  and  tried  for  polygamy  in- 
stead of  adultery,  in  the  following  extract : 

"The  motive  of  the  prosecuting  attorney  in  proceeding 
under  the  laws  of  Utah,  enacted  by  the  Mormons  themselves, 
instead  of  under  polygamous  cases,  was  probably  this:  That 
the  laws  of  the  territory  against  adultery  and  other  sexual 
sins  were  much  more  severe  than  the  act  of  Congress  against 
the  practice  of  polygamy.  It  is  a  recognized  principle  of  juris- 
prudence that  courts  in  interpreting  a  law,  should  be  governed 
by  the  manifest  intent  of  the  lawmakers.  The  intent  of  the 
Utah  legislature  in  this  case  was  well  known  both  to  Judge 
McKean  and  to  Prosecuting  Attorney  Baskin ;  and  their  de- 
liberate attempt  to  wrest  the  law  from  its  purpose  and  turn 
it  in  another  direction  to  enable  them  to  multiply  indictments 
and  inflict  heavier  penalties  than  Congress  had  authorized  or 
justice  would  warrant,  thus  wreaking  partisan  spite  upon 
their  religious  and  political  opponents  arraigned  as  prisoners 
at  the  bar,  was  as  dishonest  as  it  was  despicable."  (Whitney, 
Vol.  II,  pp.  590-592.) 

It  is  true  that  a  statute  must  be  enforced  by  the  court  in 
accordance  with  the  intention  of  the  legislature.  When,  how- 
ever, the  intention  is  expressed  by  unambiguous  language,  the 
intention  so  expressed  must  prevail,  and  cannot  be  changed 
by  extrinsic  matters.  It  would  be  dangerous  in  the  extreme 
to  infer  from  extrinsic  circumstances  that  a  case  for  which  the 
words  of  the  statute  expressly  provides  shall  be  exempt  from 
its  operation. 

44 


"The  intention  of  the  legislature  being  plainly  expressed 
so  that  the  act,  read  by  itself  or  in  connection  with  other  stat- 
utes pertaining  to  the  same  subject,  is  clear,  certain  and  unam- 
biguous, the  courts  have  only  the  simple  and  obvious  duty  of 
enforcing  the  law  according  to  its  terms."  (Sutherland,  State 
Const.,  237.) 

Sections  31  and  32,  heretofore  quoted,  are  plain  and  unam- 
biguous. A  man  who  has  sexual  intercourse  with  a  woman 
other  than  his  wife  commits  adultery,  and  is  guilty  of  poly- 
gamy when,  having  a  wife  living,  he  marries  another.  Cohab- 
itation is  not  an  element  of  the  latter  crime ;  nor  does  the 
second  marriage  make  the  woman  he  marries  his  wife,  because 
such  marriage  is  void,  and  therefore  produces  no  effect  what- 
ever. 

In  the  case  of  the  United  States  v.  West,  (7  Utah),  the 
defendant  was  indicted  in  separate  counts  for  polygamy  and 
adultery.  He  was  tried  before  Judge  Anderson,  convicted  and 
sentenced  on  both  counts  of  the  indictment.  On  an  appeal 
by  him  to  the  supreme  court,  the  judgment  was  affirmed,  and 
Judge  Blackburn,  in  delivering  the  opinion  in  which  Justice 
Miner  concurred,  said : 

"The  bigamy  was  completed  when  the  defendant,  having 
a  wife,  married  another  *  *  *  The  crime  of  polygamy  be- 
ing completed,  any  sexual  intercourse  the  defendant  after- 
wards had  with  the  woman,  (the  plural  wife)  constituted  the 
crime  of  adultery,  because  the  marriage  was  void,  and  they 
were  to  each  other  as  if  no  marriage  ceremony  had  been  per- 
formed." 

The  West  case,  the  Reynolds  case  and  the  Miles  case  are 
the  only  ones  that  I  know  of  in  which  a  polygamist  in  Utah 
was  convicted. 

In  Swancoat  v.  State  (4  Tex.  App.,  105),  it  was  held  that 
bigamy  and  adultery  are  not  the  same  offense,  nor  mainten- 
able  by  the  same  evidence,  and  therefore  a  former  acquittal  of 
bigamy  constitutes  no  defense  against  the  charge  of  adultery. 

In  Owens  and  Bealy  v.  State,  (94  Ala.,  97),  it  was  held: 

"The  offense  of  adultery  is  not  necessarily  involved  in 
bigamy,  and  there  may  be  a  prosecution  and  conviction  for 
living  in  adultery,  the  parties  claiming  to  have  been  married, 
on  proof  showing  that  one  of  them  was  guilty  of  bigamy  in 
contracting  that  marriage.  *  *  *  Bigamy  and  adultery 
are  distinct  offenses,  and  a  person  may  be  convicted  and  pun- 

45 


ished  for  each  under  the  same  state  of  facts."     (4  American 
and  English  Encyclopedia  of  Law,  35.) 

In  Vol.  II,  page  618,  Whitney  further  vents  his  spleen  in 
the  following  diatribe : 

"The  miracle — unforeseen  by  Judge  McKean — which  res- 
cued Thomas  Hawkins  from  the  consequence  of  the  crimes  of 
his  persecutors,  was  the  Englebrecht  case,  in  which  the  amount 
at  issue  being  in  excess  of  one  thousand  dollars,  was  suffi- 
cient to  allow  an  appeal  to  the  supreme  court  of  the  United 
States.  Had  it  not  been  for  this,  there  is  no  telling  to  what 
lengths  the  Utah  Jeffreys  and  his  fellow  violators  of  law  and 
justice  might  have  caused  in  their  merciless  crusade  against  the 
Mormons." 

The  following  libelous  matter  is  also  contained  in  Whit- 
ney's history: 

"That  'something  of  the  kind'  (the  overthrow  of  the  Mor- 
mons) was  desired  by  Judge  McKean,  who  was  a  religious  en- 
thusiast, may  be  believed.  A  man  who  could  say  and  feel  as 
he  did,  that  God  had  given  him  a  mission  in  Utah  as  high 
above  his  office  of  federal  judge  as  Heaven  is  above  the  earth, 
and  that  whenever  the  laws  of  the  United  States  conflicted 
with  his  ideas  of  duty  he  would  unhesitatingly  trample  them 
under  his  feet,  was  just  the  one  to  cherish  such  a  design,  and  if 
possible  to  put  it  into  execution." 

That  any  judge  of  intelligence  or  rectitude  would  utter 
the  disgraceful,  discrediting  and  absurd  language  attributed 
to  Judge  McKean  in  the  foregoing  quotation  is  too  extraord- 
inary and  improbable  to  admit  of  belief,  especially  on  the 
uncorroborated  statement  of  a  historian  as  unscrupulous  as 
Whitney  has  shown  himself  to  be.  Nor  will  any  unbiased 
person  who  reads  Whitney's  own  estimation  of  Judge  Mc- 
Kean's  general  character,  expressed  in  the  following  quotation, 
believe  that  Judge  McKean  was  guilty  of  an  impropriety  so 
gross  and  foolish  as  the  utterance  of  such  language  by  him 
would  have  been : 

"In  society  few  could  be  more  courteous,  pleasant  and 
winning  than  Judge  McKean.  These  qualities,  added  to  his 
intelligence,  made  him  many  friends,  who  were  warmly  at- 
tached to  him.  He  was  an  accomplished  scholar  and  could  write 
good  newspaper  or  magazine  articles,  and,  withal,  he  was  a 
brave  man  and  a  determined  one,  and  but  for  the  element  of 
fanaticism  in  his  nature  so  manifest  in  his  dealings  with  the 
Mormons,  a  proneness  to  prejudice,  which  blinded  his  judg- 

46 


ment,  biased  his  official  conduct,  and  trailed  like  a  serpent 
among  flowers  over  all  of  the  noble  traits  of  his  character, 
would  have  been  'a  man  picked  out  of  ten  thousand'  for  most 
of  the  qualities  that  go  to  make  up  a  sound  and  complete 
manhood.  *  *  *  No  one  questioned  his  sincerity,  his 
patriotism,  his  earnestness  in  the  discharge  of  what  he  deemed 
his  duty;  and  it  does  not  mend  matters  to  say  that  Judge 
McKean  believed  himself  to  be  an  upright  Judge,  a  merciful 
magistrate ;  so,  too,  no  doubt,  did  Jeffreys,  England's  judicial 
infamy,  and  likewise  the  Spanish  inquisitor,  Forquemada." 

The  following  is  a  quotation  from  a  speech  delivered  by 
Tom  Fitch  at  the  constitutional  convention  of  Utah  in  1872 : 

"James  B.  McKean  is  morally  and  hopelessly  deaf  to  the 
common  demands  of  the  opponents  of  his  policy,  and  in  any 
case  where  a  Mormon,  or  a  Mormon  sympathizer,  or  con- 
servative Gentile  was  concerned,  there  may  be  found  rulings 
unparalleled  in  the  jurisprudence  of  England  or  America.  Such 
a  man  you  have  among  you — a  central  sun.  What  of  his 
satellites?  The  mineral  deposits  of  Utah  have  attracted  here 
a  large  number  of  active,  restless,  adventurous  men,  and  with 
them  have  come  many  who  are  unscrupulous,  many  who  are 
reckless — the  hereditary  foes  of  industry,  order  and  law.  This 
class,  finding  the  courts  and  federal  officers  arrayed  against 
the  Mormons,  have  with  pleased  alacrity  placed  themselves 
on  the  side  of  courts  and  officers.  Elements  ordinarily  discord- 
ant blend  together  in  the  same  seething  cauldron.  The  officers 
of  justice  find  allies  in  those  men  who,  differently  surrounded, 
would  be  their  foes ;  the  bagnios  and  the  hells  shout  hosannas 
to  the  courts;  the  altars  of  religion  are  invested  with  the 
paraphernalia  and  the  presence  of  vice ;  the  drunkard  espouses 
the  cause  of  the  apostle  of  temperance;  the  champion  of 
harlots  preaches  the  beauties  of  virtue  and  continence.  All 
believe  that  license  will  be  granted  by  the  leaders  in  order  to 
advance  their  sacred  cause,  and  the  result  is  an  immense  sup- 
port for  those  friends  of  immorality  and  architects  of  disorder 
who  care  nothing  for  the  cause,  but  everything  for  the  license. 
Judge  McKean  and  others  are  doubtless  pursuing  a  purpose 
which  they  believe  in  the  main  to  be  wise  and  just,  but  their 
following  is  of  a  different  class.  There  is  a  nucleus  of  reformers 
and  a  mass  of  ruffians ;  a  center  of  zealots  and  circumference 
of  plunderers.  The  dramshop  interests  hope  to  escape  the 
Mormon  tax  of  $300  per  month  by  sustaining  a  judge  who 
will  enjoin  a  collection  of  the  tax,  and  the  prostitutes  persuade 
their  patrons  to  support  judges  who  will  interfere  by  habeas 
corpus  with  any  practical  enforcement  of  municipal  ordinances. 

"Every  interest  of  industry  is  disastrously  affected  by 
this  unholy  alliance ;  every  right  of  the  citizen  is  threatened, 

47 


if  not  assailed,  by  the  existence  of  this  combination.  Your 
magistrates  are  successfully  defied,  your  local  laws  are  dis- 
regarded, your  municipal  ordinances  are  trampled  into  the 
mire.  Theft  and  murder  walk  through  your  streets  without 
detection ;  drunkards  howl  their  orgies  in  the  shadow  of  your 
altars.  The  glare  and  turmoil  of  drinking  saloons,  the  glitter 
of  gambling  hells,  and  the  painted  flaunt  of  the  bawd  plying 
her  trade,  now  vex  the  repose  of  the  streets  which  beforetime 
heard  no  sound  to  disturb  their  quiet  save  the  busy  hum  of 
industry,  the  clatter  of  trade  and  the  musical  tinkle  of  moun- 
tain streams." 

The  foregoing  is  an  infamous  slander,  and  yet  Whitney 
has  given  it  currency  by  quoting  it  with  approval  in  his 
history.  The  motive  of  Tom  Fitch  in  making  that  outrageous 
speech  is  explained  by  antecedent  occurrences  given  here- 
under.  At  the  time  the  Cullom  bill  was  pending  in  Congress, 
Fitch  was  a  representative  from  Nevada,  and  made  a  speech 
against  it  in  which  he  lauded  the  Mormons  and  from  which  the 
following  are  extracts: 

"I  am  impelled  to  the  conviction  that  this  bill,  if  enforced 
as  law,  would  provoke  consequences  most  prolific  of  mis- 
fortune, and  entail  results  altogether  unapprehended.  The 
Mormons  would  regard  the  passage  of  this  bill  as  a  decla- 
ration of  war,  and,  panoplied  by  a  purpose  only  less  dear  to 
them  than  life  itself,  they  will  hasten  to  fortify  and  provision 
and  arm  themselves.  They  will  promptly  proceed  to  cut  off 
all  means  of  communication  with  the  outside  world.  With 
their  facilities  for  organization,  they  could  destroy  hundreds 
of  miles  of  the  great  overland  railroad  in  a  week.  They  could 
maintain  a  contest  for  months,  perhaps  for  years.  Of  course 
we  could  finally  conquer  them  because  we  could  exterminate 
them.  But  it  would  cost  us  millions  upon  millions  of  treas- 
ure ;  it  would  cost  us  the  interruption  of  that  travel  which  is 
permanently  growing  in  importance,  and  which  promises,  if 
undisturbed,  to  fulfill  the  dream  of  Columbus,  and  make 
America  a  new  highway  to  the  Indies.  *  *  *  The  truth 
is  that  our  system  of  government  is  unfit  to  deal  with  a 
problem  such  as  the  Mormon  question  presents.  Our  gov- 
ernment rests  upon  the  virtue  and  intelligence  of  the  people, 
and  laws  unsustained  by  opinion  are  apt  to  remain  unen- 
forced.  Every  State  and  Territory  is  to  some  extent  self 
governed,  and  independent.  If  the  people  of  any  country 
tacitly  agree  that  a  particular  crime  shall  not  be  considered 
a  crime  if  committed  within  that  country,  what  is  to  be  done 
about  it?  If  grand  juries  persistently  refuse  to  find  indict- 
ments, or  petit  juries  regularly  return  verdicts  of  'not  guilty' 

48 


for  that  particular  crime,  there  is  no  way  to  reach  the  matter 
or  punish  the  offender  through  the  ordinary  processes  and 
means  permitted  under  a  republican  form  of  government. 

"There  is  no  power  vested  in  the  executive  or  judge  to 
take  offenders  beyond  the  limits  of  their  State  for  trial.  Cases 
of  this  character  can  be  reached  only  by  finding  evidence  of 
such  an  armed  and  general  conspiracy  to  resist  the  laws  as 
to  authorize  the  suspension  of  civil  authority  within  the  in- 
fected district  and  the  interposition  of  military  rule.  That 
remedy  is  expensive  and  its  frequent  use  most  dangerous  and 
should  never  be  resorted  to  except  in  extreme  and  desperate 
cases.  I  do  not  believe  the  present  is  such  a  one.  If  we  de- 
liberately elect  to  precipitate  this  Mormon  war,  right  or 
wrong,  let  us  reckon  the  requirements.  We  must  select  our 
bravest  men  and  put  them  in  the  front.  Men  who  will  fight 
for  the  lust  of  blood,  for  the  inspirations  of  patriotism,  of 
national  faith  or  even  of  political  liberty — all  are  wanting. 
This  bill  is  as  inoperative  as  ill-considered ;  as  worthless  for 
all  practical  purposes  in  detail  as  it  is  generally  unwise  and 
premature.  *  *  *  I  do  not  intend  that  my  position  upon 
this  matter  shall  be  misrepresented  to  my  constituents  or  the 
country.  I  regard  polygamy  as  an  evil  to  discourage,  and  a 
violation  of  law  which  should  be,  if  possible,  prevented. 

"I  simply  doubt  the  wisdom  of  the  means  selected  to 
achieve  that  result.  For  the  coercions,  misrepresentations  and 
fraud  with  which  the  Mormons  have  sometimes  sought  to 
carry  out  their  purposes  there  will  come  a  day  of  reckoning 
and  repentance.  For  the  murderers  of  Mountain  Meadow  the 
God  of  Justice  holds  in  his  hand  some  terrible  retribution 
But  because  of  crimes  some  of  that  people  may  have  com- 
mitted in  the  past,  nor  yet  because  of  their  refusal  to  obey  the 
laws  we  have  made  for  them  alone,  I  am  not  willing 
to  plunge  headlong  into  war.  If  there  be  those  upon  this 
floor  who  desire  to  confiscate  the  property  of  these  out- 
casts— who  consent  to  give  their  men  to  the  sword  and  their 
women  to  the  bagnio,  and  are  ready  to  meet  the  just  re- 
proaches of  a  tax-burdened  and  humane  people,  they  must 
proceed  without  my  help.  I  am  not  willing  to  look  upon  the 
ruin  of  the  great  road  which  forms  the  keystone  of  the  arch 
of  the  highway  around  the  world.  I  am  not  willing  to 
destroy  the  channels  through  which  my  people  hope  to  re- 
ceive the  life-currents  of  empire.  I  count  the  cost  and  I  count 
the  result,  and  I  am  not  willing  to  pay  the  price  of  reaching 
the  result.  I  will  not  vote  for  this  bill  which  will  add  millions 
to  the  debt  and  thousands  to  the  muster  roll  of  the  nation's 
dead  and  in  the  name  of  a  people  who  have  burdens  enough 
to  bear  and  kindred  enough  to  mourn,  I  protest  against  the 
passage  of  this  most  unwise  and  ill-considered  bill !" 


49 


That  bill  was  passed  in  the  House  by  a  large  majority,  but 
was  not  voted  upon  in  the  Senate  because  Senator  Nye  of 
Nevada,  chairman  of  the  Senate  Committee  on  Territories, 
failed  as  directed  by  his  committee  to  report  to  the  Senate 
a  resolution  favoring  its  passage. 

All  of  the  provisions  of  the  Cullom  bill,  except  a  tew 
minor  ones,  were  afterwards  enacted  by  Congress  and  en- 
forced in  Utah.  Instead  of  causing  war,  their  enforcement 
materially  contributed  to  the  betterment  of  the  evil  conditions 
in  Utah,  to  correct  which  those  provisions  were  enacted  by 
Congress. 

While  by  that  speech  Fitch  gained  great  eclat  and  popu- 
larity among  the  Mormons  in  Utah,  it  ruined  him  in  Nevada. 
When,  as  a  candidate  of  the  Republican  party,  he  stood  for 
re-election  to  Congress  at  the  ensuing  election,  he  was  badly 
defeated,  nowithstanding  a  large  majority  of  the  electors  at 
that  time  in  Nevada  were  members  of  his  party. 

Persons  who  resided  in  Nevada  and  took  part  in  that 
election  have  told  me  that  Fitch  while  speaking  in  various 
places  in  the  State  in  support  of  his  re-election  was  often 
interrupted  by  the  question,  "Tom,  tell  us  how  much  Brigham 
paid  you  for  making  that  speech  against  the  Cullom  bill?" 

After  his  humiliating  defeat  for  re-election,  Fitch  came  to 
Utah  and  started  the  movement  for  Utah  statehood,  in  pur- 
suance of  which  the  constitutional  convention  was  convened, 
at  which  he  made  the  speech  in  which  he  uttered  the  in- 
famous slander  before  quoted.  He  was  a  crafty  and  adven- 
turous aspirant  for  the  office  of  United  States  senator.  That 
speech  was  not  an  expression  of  conscientious  conviction. 
He  expected  that  its  delivery  would  add  to  the  popularity 
he  had  already  gained  by  opposing  the  Cullom  bill  and  pro- 
cure the  support  of  the  priesthood  which  would  insure  his 
election  as  United  States  senator,  when,  as  he  confidently 
expected,  admission  of  Utah  as  a  State  would  be  gained  under 
the  movement  started  by  him. 

The  constitutional  convention,  which  convened  on  Feb- 
ruary 19,  1872,  provided  in  the  constitution  adopted  by  it  that 
an  election  of  state  officers  should  be  held  on  March  18th  of 
that  year,  and  previous  to  the  anticipated  admission  of  the 
Territory  into  the  Union.  Tom  Fitch  was  elected  United 
States  senator  at  that  election.  He  succeeded  by  his  methods, 

50 


before  referred  to  in  gaining  the  support  of  the  Mormons ; 
but  soon  after  his  election  the  failure  of  the  movement  for 
statehood  thwarted  his  scheme  of  preferment  and  he  soon 
afterward  left  Utah  and  remained  away  until  after  the  en- 
abling act  for  the  admission  of  Utah  was  passed  in  July, 
1894.  Soon  after  that  event  he  again  settled  in  Salt  Lake 
City,  and  announced  his  candidacy  for  United  States  senator. 
It  is  evident  that  he  returned  to  Utah  with  the  expecta- 
tion of  being  elected  United  States  senator  as  a  reward  for 
his  former  services  in  behalf  of  the  Utah  hierarchy.  He 
knew  that  but  few  Gentiles  would  be  elected  to  the  new 
State  legislature,  and  that  he  had  no  chance  whatever  of  re- 
ceiving any  of  their  votes.  He  expected,  however,  that  the 
reputation  he  had  previously  gained  would  secure  for  him 
the  support  of  the  Mormon  members  of  the  legislature.  But 
a  salutary  change  in  Utah  conditions  had  occurred  during  his 
long  absence  from  the  Territory,  and  such  services  as  he  had 
rendered,  and  for  which  he  looked  to  be  rewarded,  had  ceased 
to  be  appreciated.  In  the  balloting  for  United  States  senators 
by  the  legislature  he  failed  to  receive  a  single  vote.  Soon 
afterward,  the  hierarchy  having  failed  to  requite  him  for 
supporting  its  cause,  as  it  has  generally  done  respecting 
other  jack-Mormons  when  their  support,  like  Fitch's,  ceased 
to  be  useful,  he  again  "shook  the  dust  of  Zion  from  his  feet." 
While  Tom  Fitch  by  his  well-known  record  had  won  the 
sobriquet  of  "Silver  Tongued  Orator,"  he  has  not  gained 
by  it  a  reputation  for  probity. 

£  $  £         f  4*  ,$  4c,  '          $  $  $  &        '     4t        •     4 

The  reversal  of  the  Englebrecht  case  rendered  the  ex- 
ecution of  the  laws  in  Utah  impossible  except  through  Mor- 
mon instrumentalities,  and  rendered  effective  the  acts  of  the 
territorial  legislature  passed  for  the  purpose,  as  before  shown, 
of  preventing  the  execution  of  certain  laws  by  the  federal 
authorities.  That  reversal,  instead  of  injuring,  strengthened 
the  Liberal  cause.  It  directed  the  attention  of  the  nation  to 
the  necessity  of  additional  legislation  by  Congress  and 
brought  about  the  enactment  of  the  rulings  of  the  lower 
courts  in  the  Englebrecht  and  Barrett  cases. 

Whitney,  like  Hawkins,  having  been  guilty  of  the  crime 
'of  polygamy,  the  acts  of  Congress  made  necessary  by  the  re- 
versal of  the  Englebrecht  decision  naturally  caused  him  to  be- 

51 


come  spleeny  and  apprehensive.  He  could  no  longer  practice 
polygamy  with  impunity,  and  in  his  history  he  displayed  his 
venom  by  casting  wholesale  aspersions  on  faithful  federal 
officers  and  members  of  the  Liberal  party  who  had  been  active 
in  bringing  about  the  betterment  of  the  social  status  in  Utah. 
Tom  Fitch's  infamous  slander  and  Whitney's  despicable 
calumnies  have  been  disseminated  by  quotations  in  a  base 
"take-in"  entitled  "History  of  the  Bench  and  Bar  of  Utah," 
recently  published,  and  in  which  currency  is  given  to  the  fol- 
lowing insinuations : 

"Judge  Zane's  Decisions — Kenner  tells  us  that  from  this 
point  on  the  campaign  against  polygamic  offenses  waxed 
warm  and  active,  the  Judge  lending  all  that  his  position  was 
capable  of  to  it.  In  point  of  effectiveness  and  results,  Judge 
Zane  made  Judge  McKean's  record  look  like  a  thing  of  threads 
and  patches.  'Abandon  hope  all  ye  who  enter  here,'  was  not 
written  over  the  entrance  to  the  courtroom,  and  would  not 
have  been  appropriate  anyway,  because  if  the  defendant  hap- 
pened to  be  accused  of  anything  else  than  unlawful  cohabi- 
tation or  polygamy  he  stood  as  good  a  chance  to  get  away  as 
though  it  were  any  other  court." 

Judge  McKean  was  both  upright  and  intelligent,  and  has 
been  derided  by  Whitney  and  other  fanatical  polygamists  be- 
cause, under  his  decisions  in  the  Englebrecht  and  Hawkins 
cases,  they  could  no  longer  violate  with  impunity  the  law  of 
Congress  against  polygamy.  The  overruling  of  the  former 
decision,  as  before  stated,  led  to  enactments  by  Congress  under 
which  polygamists  could  be  punished,  notwithstanding  the 
means  devised  by  the  priesthood  and  the  acts  of  the  terri- 
torial legislature  which  for  so  many  years  had  rendered  im- 
possible the  enforcement  of  the  law  of  1862  against  polygamy 
in  Utah. 

Judge  Zane,  having  been  appointed  chief  justice,  arrived 
in  Salt  Lake  City  August  23,  1884,  and  has  since  resided 
there.  He  is  too  well  known,  and  his  uprightness  both  as  a 
judge  and  as  a  citizen  is  too  well  established  to  be  impaired 
by  such  an  atrocious  slur  as  the  foregoing.  A  more  con- 
scientious, impartial  and  humane  judge  than  he  never  sat 
upon  the  bench.  During  his  administration  as  chief  justice! 
a  large  number  of  Mormons  were  convicted  of  unlawful  co- 
habitation under  the  Edmunds  law  of  1882,  in  the  third  district 
court  over  which  he  presided.  Neither  Whitney  nor  anyone 

52 


else  has  the  audacity  to  assert  that  any  of  the  persons  so  con- 
victed were  innocent,  or  that  any  of  them  had  not  been  granted 
a  fair  and  impartial  trial. 

William  H.  Dickson  as  United  States  district  attorney, 
and  his  deputy,  Charles  S.  Varian,  were  the  prosecuting  offi- 
cers of  the  court  during  these  trials,  and  they,  like  Judge  Zane, 
have  since  resided  in  Salt  Lake  City.  Their  reputations  for 
ability,  official  integrity  and  fair  treatment  of  their  fellowmen 
are  well  established;  and  every  intelligent  unbiased  person 
who  is  cognizant  of  the  record  and  character  of  Judge  Zane 
and  those  prosecuting  officers  knows  that  if  any  of  those 
cases,  or  in  any  case,  the  evidence  had  failed  to  justify  a 
verdict  of  guilty,  further  prosecution  would  have  been  aband- 
oned and  the  jury  instructed  to  acquit  the  accused. 


53 


CHAPTER  VI. 

Indictment  of  Brigham  Young  and  Others. 

The  grand  jury  that  indicted  Thomas  Hawkins  also  in- 
dicted Brigham  Young  and  other  high  officials  among  the 
privileged  Mormon  ranks.  They  were  charged  with  having 
violated  Section  32  of  the  statute  against  lewd  and  lascivious 
cohabitation,  quoted  in  the  previous  chapter,  and  by  virtue  of 
the  confession  of  Bill  Hickman,  Brigham  Young  and  those 
implicated  by  Hickman  were  also  indicted  for  murder. 

"Lewd"  and  "lascivious"  are  synonymous.  The  crime 
of  lascivious  cohabitation  is  defined  in  Bouvier's  law  diction- 
ary to  be  "the  act  or  state  of  man  or  woman  not  married,  who 
dwell  together  in  the  same  house,  behaving  themselves  as 
man  and  wife."  I  had  no  doubt  that  cohabitation  with  almost 
the  score  of  plural  wives  sealed  to  Brigham  would  place  him 
among  the  violators  of  the  provisions  of  the  statute  against 
lewd  and  lascivious  cohabitation. 

The  two  sections  of  the  statute  before  set  out  were  no 
doubt  passed  to  punish  Gentiles  only.  The  procedure  in  the 
trial  of  the  Hawkins  case,  and  the  indictment  of  Brigham 
Young  and  others  for  "lewd  and  lascivious  cohabitation," 
greatly  enlightened  the  members  of  the  priesthood  on  that 
subject.  For  when  it  was  discovered  that  those  sections  ap- 
plied to  their  own  unlawful  practices — that  their  plural  mar- 
riages followed  by  cohabitation  was  not  only  the  commission 
of  the  crime  of  polygamy,  but  also  of  adultery  and  lewd  and 
lascivious  cohabitation — that  they  were  liable  to  indictment 
and  punishment  for  either  or  all  these  crimes  in  the  same 
action,  the  legislature  thereupon  repealed  both  sections.  Gov- 
ernor Emery  stultified  himself  by  approving  the  act  repealing 
them,  and  from  the  time  he  did  so  until  the  passage  of  the 
Edmunds  law  of  1882,  neither  of  the  latter  crimes  was  punish- 
able in  Utah. 

I  knew  that  the  indictment  of  Brigham  and  others  would 
cause  great  excitement,  especially  among  the  polygamic  ele- 
ment of  the  Mormon  church,  and  if  a  collision  occurred  it 
it  would  be  at  the  time  Brigham  was  arrested  on  the  charge 

54 


of  murder.  To  meet  such  a  contingency  the  United  States 
marshal  had  appointed  about  one  hundred  deputies,  most  of 
whom  had  been  soldiers  in  the  Civil  war,  and  General  de 
Trobrian,  commander  of  Camp  Douglas,  had  been  ordered 
to  furnish  upon  the  request  of  the  governor  a  posse  of 
soldiers  to  aid  the  marshal.  I  knew  that  the  arrest  of  anyone 
except  Brigham  would  not  be  resisted.  I  therefore  had 
Hawkins  arrested  and  tried  before  taking  any  steps  in  the 
other  cases.  During  that  trial  the  street  in  front  of  the 
courtroom  was  daily  crowded  by  hundreds  of  men,  many 
of  whom  were  armed  and  whose  demeanor  was  most 
threatening  towards  the  court.  I  knew  that  the  mob  which 
daily  assembled  in  front  of  the  court  house,  and  which  seemed 
to  be  in  charge  of  Lot  Smith  (leader  of  the  squad  in  1857  that 
captured  and  burnt  one  of  Gen.  Albert  Sidney  Johnston's 
army  trains),  in  time  would  become  tired  and  disperse,  if  noth- 
ing more  was  done  than  to  arrest  and  place  under  bonds  the 
persons  indicted  who  were  less  conspicuous  than  the  high 
priests  of  the  Mormon  church.  From  time  to  time,  for  a 
period  of  two  weeks,  I  had  such  persons  arrested.  The  mob 
in  the  meantime  had  dispersed,  and  the  general  excitement 
had  been  greatly  allayed.  Brigham  was  then  arrested  on  the 
charge  of  lewd  and  lascivious  cohabitation,  and  brought  into 
court.  He  gave  bonds,  just  as  others  were  required  to  do. 
No  special  demonstration  was  made  upon  that  occasion.  In 
a  few  days  later  I  had  a  warrant  issued  for  his  arrest  on  the 
murder  charge.  On  Saturday  evening  I  placed  the  warrant 
in  the  hands  of  the  marshal  and  instructed  him  to  make  the 
arrest  on  Monday  morning,  before  the  court  convened,  and 
to  inform  his  deputies  to  be  ready  to  lend  assistance  if  it 
became  necessary.  Evidently  some  of  the  marshal's  deputies 
betrayed  him,  as  Brigham  learned  of  his  intended  arrest. 
On  Sunday  afternoon  a  meeting  of  a  large  number  of  Mor- 
mons was  held  at  Jeter  Clinton's  ranch,  which  was  situated 
about  a  mile  beyond  Garfield  Beach.  Brigham  and  other 
officials  of  the  Mormon  church  were  present.  The  meeting 
was  convened  to  decide  whether  or  not  the  arrest  of  Brigham 
should  be  resisted  by  armed  force.  Many  present  favored 
resistance,  but  others  opposed  resorting  to  force.  Brigham 
finally  decided  that  instead  of  resisting  he  would  make  a 

55 


journey  to  "the  south"  for  his  health.  Consequently  that  Sun- 
day night  he  started  south,  but  he  did  not,  as  was  his  usual 
custom,  travel  in  state,  nor  was  he  met,  as  usual,  by  a  large 
delegation  at  each  town  through  which  he  passed.  His 
journey  from  Salt  Lake  City  to  Kanab  was  secretly  made. 
In  the  height  of  the  excitement,  and  when  the  armed  mob 
was  menacing  the  court,  a  number  of  prominent  Gentiles 
called  upon  me  and  stated  that  they  had  reliable  information 
that,  unless  the  prosecutions  were  stopped,  the  prominent 
Gentiles  who  had  taken  an  active  part  in  opposing  the  Mor- 
mon "system"  would  be  assassinated;  that  they  had  been  ap- 
pointed a  committee  to  advise  me  of  the  fact  and  request  me 
to  dismiss  the  cases.  I  told  the  spokesman  he  would  make 
a  splendid  angel,  and  as  I  did  not  intend  to  grant  the  request, 
he  had  better  prepare  to  go  to  Abraham's  bosom.  He  re- 
plied that  the  matter  was  "too  serious  to  treat  facetiously." 
I  then  said :  "Gentlemen,  speaking  seriously,  I  think  I 
know  Brigham  Young  better  than  you  do.  He  has  assumed 
the  role  of  a  lion,  and,  if  by  roaring  he  can  scare  me  as  he  has 
you,  and  thereby  put  an  end  to  the  prosecutions,  it  will 
strengthen  the  belief  of  his  credulous  followers  that,  as 
claimed  by  him,  he  is  under  the  guidance  and  protection  of  a 
divine  power  greater  than  that  of  the  United  States ;  that  as  a 
lion  he  is  not  of  much  consequence,  and  when  he  fails,  as  he 
will,  to  accomplish  his  purpose  in  the  role  of  a  iion,  he  will 
assume  that  of  the  fox,  in  which  he  is  very  formidable." 
This  was  not  the  only  time  I  had  been  subjected  to  a  fire 
from  the  rear  by  men  who  should  have  encouraged  instead 
of  opposed  me. 

When  I  was  in  Washington  urging  the  passage  of  the 
Cullom  bill,  which  would  have  brought  about  much  sooner 
the  change  which  occurred  more  than  twenty  years  after- 
wards, a  number  of  men  who  should  have  aided,  became 
frightened  at  the  threats  made  by  the  leading  Mormons  in  a 
meeting  convened  by  Brigham,  and  having  met  in  the  Masonic 
hall  in  Salt  Lake  City,  adopted  resolutions  protesting  against 
the  passage  of  that  bill  and  forwarded  the  same  to  the  Mor- 
mon delegate,  to  be  used  by  him  to  defeat  it. 

In  November,  1872,  before  any  of  the  indicted  parties 
except  Hawkins  were  tried,  George  Caesar  Bates,  who  had  been 

56 


appointed  to  fill  the  vacancy  in  the  office  of  United  States  at- 
torney, arrived  in  the  Territory.  At  his  request,  I  explained 
the  status  of  the  cases  I  had  commenced,  placed  in  his  hands 
the  written  statements  I  had  made  of  Hickman's  confession, 
and  gave  to  him  the  names  of  the  other  persons  who  had 
made  statements  tending  to  corroborate  Hickman.  Subse- 
quently I  had  frequent  consultations  with  him  about  the 
cases.  He  expressed  a  desire  to  bring  the  cases  to  trial  at 
the  next  term  of  court  and  requested  me  to  assist  him,  to 
which  request  I  assented.  He  afterwards  received  a  letter 
from  Attorney  General  Akerman,  dated  December  20th,  which 
was  in  answer  to  one  sent  to  him  by  Bates,  in  which  the 
attorney  general  said:  "I  have  answered  by  telegraph  that 
you  are  at  liberty  to  employ  Mr.  Baskin,  and  I  herewith  en- 
close a  commission  for  him."  He  delivered  the  commission 
to  me,  and  we  went  along  harmoniously  for  several  weeks, 
but  soon  he  began  to  make  objections.  He  said  that  there 
was  no  money  available  to  defray  the  expenses  of  the  prose- 
cution; that  upon  further  investigation  he  was  averse  to 
bringing  the  cases  to  trial.  At  our  frequent  conversations 
regarding  the  matter  he  habitually  made  objections.  I 
finally  lost  my  patience,  and  said  to  him  that  it  was  evident 
to  me  that  for  some  unaccountable  reason  he  had  changed 
his  former  intention  of  trying  the  cases,  and  did  not  intend 
to  do  so;  that  I  had  not  been  employed  to  discuss  with  him 
why  the  cases  should  not  be  tried,  but  to  assist  him  in  the 
trial ;  that  I  would  no  longer  act  in  the  matter  and  would  re- 
turn my  commission  to  the  attorney  general  with  a  statement 
of  my  reasons  for  doing  so — and  this  I  did. 

Later,  the  judgment  in  the  Englebrecht  case  was  re- 
versed by  the  supreme  court  of  the  United  States,  and  as  the 
grand  jury  which  had  found  the  indictments  against  Brigham 
and  others  was  held  by  that  court  to  be  invalid,  the  criminal 
cases  in  question  were  dismissed.  I  regret  that  those  cases 
were  not  tried,  because  their  trial  would  have  exposed,  as 
did  the  first  trial  of  Bishop  John  D.  Lee,  the  deplorable  con- 
ditions which  then  existed  in  the  Territory ;  and  the  exami- 
nation of  Hickman,  in  my  opinion,  would  have  convinced  the 
public  that  his  confession  was  true,  especially  if  he  had  been 
subjected  to  a  rigid  cross-examination. 

57 


Bates  having  been  requested  to  resign,  refused  to  do  so, 
but  was  removed  by  the  President,  and  William  Gary  appointed 
in  his  place.  Respecting  Bates'  removal,  Whitney,  on  page 
371,  Vol.  II  of  his  history,  says:  "Mr.  Bates  had  not  shown  a 
sufficiently  antagonistic  spirit  towards  the  Mormons  to  suit 
the  President's  advisers  in  Utah  affairs.  William  Carey, 
however,  assumed  the  role  of  a  'crusader.' ': 

Mr.  Gary  was  incorruptible,  and  faithfully  discharged  the 
duties  of  his  office,  which  caused  Whitney  to  denounce  him 
as  he  has  every  other  incorruptible  and  faithful  federal  officer 
of  the  Territory.  George  Caesar  Bates,  soon  after  his  re- 
moval, became  attorney  for  the  church  and  was  employed 
later  by  Brigham  Young  to  defend  John  D.  Lee. 

At  the  first  trial  of  Lee  on  the  charge  of  having  partici- 
pated in  the  Mountain  Meadows  massacre,  Bates  appeared 
as  his  attorney  and  took  an  active  part  in  the  trial.  The 
animus  of  Bates  is  shown  by  the  following  extract  of  an 
article  written  by  him,  and  contained  in  Whitney's  history: 

"Chief  Justice  McKean  and  his  co-conspirators  had  their 
plans  apparently  well  laid,  but  'man  proposes,  God  disposes.' 
Chief  Justice  Chase  and  his  associates,  inspired  by  the  God 
of  Justice,  stepped  in  at  the  last  moment,  overwhelmed  the 
enemies  of  the  Mormons,  and  scattered  to  the  winds  their 
unrighteous  machinations.  Before  we  present  the  proofs, 
however,  from  the  records  of  this  most  remarkable  interpo- 
sition to  arrest  the  hands  of  those  would-be  judicial  murder- 
ers, we  will  give  an  analysis  of  the  laws  bearing  upon  the 
case.  *  *  *  Under  this  state  of  things  the  conspirators 
deemed  it  necessary  at  the  outset  to  get  rid  of  the  territorial 
marshal  and  attorney  general,  and  vest  their  duties  in  the 
United  States  marshal  and  district  attorney.  They  also 
wished  to  nullify  the  statutes  of  Utah  providing  for  the  draw- 
ing and  impaneling  of  grand  and  petit  jurors,  as  they  could 
not  otherwise  use  the  courts  as  instrumentalities  for  the 
destruction  of  the  Mormons." 


58 


CHAPTER  VII. 

The  Case  of  Ferris  v.  Higley,  in  Which  it  Was  Decided  That 
the  Probate  Courts  of  the  Territory  Did  Not  Have  Civil 
or  Criminal  Jurisdiction. 

Previous  to  the  time  the  case  of  Ferris  v.  Higley  was 
commenecd  in  the  probate  court  of  Salt  Lake  County,  I  had 
in  several  cases  put  in  issue  the  jurisdiction  of  that  court. 
But  in  all  of  those  cases  the  question  of  jurisdiction  was 
avoided,  and  decided  in  favor  of  my  clients  on  other  grounds. 
When  employed  by  the  defendant  in  the  Ferris  case  I  de- 
termined to  test  the  jurisdiction  of  the  court,  and  with  that 
purpose  in  view  filed  a  plea  to  the  jurisdiction.  Upon  its 
being  overruled  I  rested  the  case  and  appealed  to  the  district 
court  from  the  judgment  rendered.  That  court  reversed  the 
judgment  of  the  probate  court  and  sustained  the  plea.  The 
plaintiff  appealed  to  the  supreme  court  of  the  Territory,  and 
the  district  court  was  sustained.  The  case  was  carried  by 
writ  of  error  to  the  supreme  court  of  the  United  States.  The 
decision  of  the  court  is  reported  in  20  Wall.,  375,  and  what 
was  decided  is  shown  by  the  following  syllabus  of  the  case. 

'~The  act  of  the  territorial  legislature  conferring  on  the 
probate  courts  a  general  jurisdiction  in  civil  and  criminal 
cases,  both  at  chancery  and  at  common  law,  is  inconsistent 
with  the  organic  act,  and  is  therefore  void." 

The  only  courts  having  general  civil  and  criminal  juris- 
diction in  equity  and  at  common  law  were  the  district  and 
supreme  courts  of  the  Territory.  Yet  from  the  time  that 
the  first  legislature  passed  the  void  act  referred  to,  the  pro- 
bate courts  continued  to  exercise  illegally  general,  civil  and 
criminal  jurisdiction,  until  the  final  decision  of  the  case  of 
Ferris  v.  Higley.  During  that  time  practically  all  the 
legal  business,  except  a  few  cases  in  which  the  United  States 
was  a  party,  was  transacted  in  the  probate  courts  of  the 
Territory. 

In  several  instances  individuals  were  convicted  of  capital 
crimes  and  executed.  Of  course,  all  the  judgments  and  de- 
crees rendered  in  said  courts  were  void.  The  granting  of 

59 
3 


such  unwarranted  jurisdiction  to  the  probate  courts  was  in- 
excusable, and  its  purpose  was  to  transfer  the  legal  business 
in  local  matters,  rightfully  belonging  to  the  district  courts, 
to  courts  chosen  by  and  under  the  control  of  the  hierarchy 
which  existed  here. 


60 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

The  Reynolds  Case,  in  Which  the  Validity  of  the  Act  of  1862 
Against  Polygamy  was  Sustained  by  the  Supreme  Court 
of  the  United  States. 

In  Whitney's  History,  Vol.  Ill,  pages  46  and  47,  this 
statement  is  made : 

"In  the  summer  of  1874,  negotiations  were  opened  between 
the  Mormon  authorities  and  United  States  Attorney,  Mr. 
Carey,  and  it  was  arranged  that  a  case  should  be  provided. 
Mr.  Carey  and  his  assistant  were  preparing  at  this  very  time 
to  launch  a  series  of  prosecutions  for  polygamy  against 
prominent  Mormons,  who,  though  it  was  known  that  they 
could  not  be  legally  convicted — their  polygamous  relations 
being  of  longer  standing  than  the  law  under  which  it  was 
proposed  to  prosecute  them — had  nevertheless  been  singled 
out  as  a  target  for  a  vain,  though  vigorous  onslaught. 

'-The  district  attorney  agreed  that  if  a  test  case  were 
furnished,  these  proceedings  should  be  dropped.  This  cir- 
cumstance no  doubt  expedited  the  subsequent  arrangement. 
It  was  stipulated  that  the  defendant  in  the  case  should  produce 
the  evidence  for  his  own  indictment  and  conviction,  and  it 
was  generally  understood  that  the  infliction  of  punishment 
in  this  instance  would  be  waived.  Only  the  first  half  of 
the  arrangement  was  realized.  The  defendant  in  the  test  case, 
George  Reynolds,  supplied  the  evidence  upon  which  he  was 
convicted,  but  his  action  did  not  shield  him  from  punish- 
ment, though  it  doubtless  had  the  effect  of  mitigating  the 
same.  Messrs.  Carey  and  Baskin  prosecuted." 

Reynolds  was  convicted  of  polygamy  and  sentenced  to 
be  imprisoned  at  hard  labor  for  the  term  of  two  years,  and  to 
pay  a  fine  of  $500.  The  foregoing  statement  of  Mr.  Whitney 
is  absolutely  untruthful,  as  are  many  of  the  statements  re- 
lating to  the  Mormon  question  contained  in  his  History  of 
Utah.  In  his  comments  he  not  only  misstates  the  motives 
of  the  federal  officers  of  the  Territory,  but  also  the  motives 
of  the  Gentile  inhabitants  who  opposed  the  despotic  hierarchy. 
If  such  an  agreement  had  been  entered  into,  and  Reynolds 
in  pursuance  thereof,  as  alleged,  had  furnished  the  evidence 
upon  which  he  was  convicted,  his  heavy  sentence  was  a 
glaring  outrage.  Mr.  Gary,  the  able  attorneys  who  defended 

61 


Reynolds,  and  myself  were  present  when  he  was  sentenced, 
and  no  objection  whatever  was  made  to  the  sentence  imposed. 
If  any  such  "arrangement"  had  been  made,  for  Mr.  Gary  or 
myself  (if  I  had,  as  alleged,  been  his  assistant  in  the  trial), 
to  have  remained  silent  and  failed  to  interpose  an  objection 
to  the  sentence,  would  have  been  dishonorable  in  the  ex- 
treme. Moreover,  it  is  irrational  to  suppose  that  Reynolds' 
attorneys  being  present,  would  have  failed  to  object.  If  they 
had  done  so  and  stated  the  alleged  arrangement,  the  court 
on  its  own  motion  would  have  either  granted  a  new  trial, 
or  imposed  the  lightest  sentence  possible.  Whitney's  state- 
ment is  flagrantly  untrue.  In  the  trial  the  case  was  contested 
from  start  to  finish.  Every  tangible  exception  was  taken  by 
the  able  attorneys  for  the  defense,  and  afterwards  urged  in 
the  appellate  courts.  If  any  arrangement  had  been  made,  the 
long  and  hotly  contested  trial  was  wholly  unnecessary.  All 
that  was  required  in  the  case,  if  it  were  intended  for  a  test 
one,  was  a  demurrer  to  the  indictment  on  the  ground  that  the 
anti-polygamy  law  of  1862  was  unconstitutional,  and  upon 
its  being  overruled,  an  entry  of  a  plea  of  guilty.  Furnishing 
evidence  by  the  accused  was  wholly  unnecessary,  and,  in  fact, 
was  not  done.  The  facts  regarding  the  securement  of  the 
witness  whose  testimony  convicted  Reynolds  are  as  follows : 
I  was  not  an  assistant  to  Mr.  Gary.  At  the  time  of 
the  trial  General  Cowan,  who  was  assistant  Secretary  of  the 
Interior,  was  in  the  city,  having  been  sent  here  by  President 
Grant  to  investigate  affairs  in  Utah.  He  expressed  to  me 
a  desire  to  go  to  the  court  house  where  the  trial  of  Reynolds 
was  in  progress.  I  accompanied  him  there.  Daniel  H. 
Wells  and  other  witnesses  by  whom  Gary  expected  to  prove 
the  second  marriage,  testified  that  they  knew  nothing  re- 
specting the  alleged  plural  marriage  of  Reynolds.  While 
Mr.  Wells  was  being  examined,  and  had  positively  denied 
all  knowledge  of  such  a  marriage,  General  Maxwell,  who  was 
United  States  marshal,  stated  to  me  that  Gary  had  failed 
to  prove  the  second  marriage ;  that  there  were  no  other 
witnesses  in  attendance,  and  that  the  court  would  have  to 
instruct  the  jury  to  acquit  the  accused.  I  asked  the  marshal 
if  the  plural  wife  had  been  subpoenaed,  and  he  said  that  she 
had  not.  I  then  secured  a  subpoena  for  the  plural  wife  as 

62 


DANIEL  H.  WELLS. 


stated  in  the  letter  of  General  Cowan,  hereinafter  set  out, 
and  it  was  placed  in  the  hands  of  Arthur  Pratt,  a  deputy 
marshal,  with  instructions  to  procure  a  buggy  and  bring  the 
witness  to  the  court  house  as  soon  as  possible.  In  about 
twenty  minutes  Pratt  appeared  in  the  courtroom  with  the 
witness,  and  she  was  immediately  sworn.  In  her  examination 
she  frankly  stated  that  she  and  Reynolds  were  married,  and 
that  Brother  Daniel  H.  Wells  had  performed  the  ceremony. 
The  first  marriage  having  before  been  shown,  the  testimony 
of  his  plural  wife  completed  the  chain  of  evidence  which 
proved  Reynolds'  guilt  beyond  reasonable  doubt.  Had  not 
the  plural  wife's  attendance  been  procured  in  the  manner 
it  was  accomplished,  Reynolds  would  have  been  acquitted ; 
and  yet  that  saintly  historian  has  given  currency  to  a  patent 
falsehood,  which  by  implication  charges  both  Mr.  Gary  and 
myself  with  having  been  guilty  of  infamous  conduct  towards 
George  Reynolds,  with  the  evident  intention  of  placing  the 
federal  authorities  in  a  false  light  before  the  public.  For, 
what  could  be  more  disgraceful  than  the  sentence  of  Rey- 
nolds if  Whitney's  statements  are  true?  The  statements 
were  also  intended  apparently  to  make  it  appear  that  the 
leaders  of  the  Mormon  church  had  such  implicit  faith  in  the 
unconstitutionality  of  the  law  of  1862  that  they  were 
anxious  to  "make  a  case"  for  the  purpose  of  testing  its  validity. 

The  grand  jury  which  found  the  indictment  against 
Reynolds  was  composed  of  twenty-three  members,  and 
among  the  numerous  exceptions  taken  by  the  defense  was 
one  attacking  the  validity  of  the  grand  jury.  On  an  appeal 
by  the  defendant  the  judgment  against  Reynolds  was  re- 
versed by  the  supreme  court  of  the  Territory,  which  held 
that  the  legal  grand  jury  under  the  law  of  the  Territory  con- 
sisted of  fifteen  members,  and  that  the  indictment  against 
Reynolds,  having  been  found  by  a  grand  jury  composed  of 
twenty-three  members,  was  illegal.  The  indictment  was  there- 
fore quashed.  (See  1  Utah,  226.) 

Reynolds  was  afterwards  indicted  and  convicted  for  the 
same  offense.  He  was  defended  by  attorneys,  of  whom  P.  L. 
Williams,  the  distinguished  and  able  attorney  for  the  Oregon 
Short  Line  railroad  company,  was  the  chief. 

63 


Mr.  Williams  recently  assured  me  that  he  and  his  as- 
sistants did  their  best  to  secure  the  acquittal  of  Reynolds, 
and  took  every  available  exception.  At  the  second  trial 
Amelia  Jane  Scofield,  the  plural  wife  of  Reynolds,  whose 
testimony  at  the  former  trial  convicted  him,  could  not  be 
found,  but  upon  a  showing  that  she  had  been  spirited  away 
by  the  defendant  to  prevent  the  marshal  from  subpoenaing 
her  to  attend  as  a  witness  at  the  second  trial,  her  former 
testimony  was  introduced  over  the  objection  of  the  defense 
and  again  convicted  Reynolds.  The  judgment  on  final  ap- 
peal to  the  supreme  court  of  the  United  States  was  affirmed, 
and  the  validity  of  the  anti-polygamy  law  sustained. 

The  decision  of  the  case  in  the  supreme  court  of  the 
United  States  is  reported  in  98  U.  S.,  145.  The  following 
extract  from  the  opinion,  which  was  delivered  by  Chief 
Justice  Waite,  shows  the  number  of  exceptions  urged  by 
the  counsel  of  Reynolds  at  the  hearing  of  the  case  on  appeal 
in  that  court: 

"The  assignments  of  error  when  grouped  present  the 
following  questions: 

"First :  Was  the  indictment  bad  because  found  by  a  grand 
jury  of  less  than  sixteen  persons? 

"Second :  Were  the  challenges  of  certain  petit  jurors 
by  the  accused  improperly  overruled? 

"Third:  Were  the  challenges  of  certain  other  jurors  by 
the  government  improperly  sustained? 

"Fourth:  Was  the  testimony  of  Amelia  Jane  Scofield 
given  at  a  former  trial  for  the  same  offense,  but  under  another 
indictment,  improperly  admitted  in  evidence? 

"Fifth :  Should  the  accused  have  been  acquitted,  if  he 
married  a  second  time,  because  he  believed  it  to  be  his 
religious  duty? 

"Sixth :  Did  the  court  err  in  that  part  of  the  charge 
which  directed  the  attention  of  the  jury  to  the  consequences 
of  polygamy?" 

General  Cowan,  after  the  final  decision  of  the  Reynolds 
case,  wrote  a  letter  to  the  Cincinnati  Commercial,  which  was 
published  in  that  paper,  and  in  which  he  said : 

"George  Reynolds  had  been  a  clerk  in  the  endowment 
house  in  Salt  Lake  City,  a  position  which  threw  him  into 
immediate  communication  with  the  most  prominent  officials 
of  the  Mormon  church.  He  was  also  well  known  in  the 

64 


city,  and  the  fact  of  his  polygamous  marriage  was  notorious 
in  the  community.  The  jury,  which  had  been  selected  in 
the  usual  way,  was  composed  of  eight  or  nine  Mormons  and 
three  or  four  Gentiles.  They  were  men  of  fair  average  in- 
telligence, and  to  judge  from  their  appearance,  would  com- 
pare favorably  with  the  average  jury  in  the  States.  The 
courtroom  was  filled  with  a  crowd  composed  largely  of 
Mormons,  who,  were  evidently  very  much  interested  in  the 
result  of  the  trial.  The  Gentiles  present  were  most  bitterly 
hostile  to  the  whole  Mormon  system,  and  to  the  polygamous 
features  of  it,  especially.  The  case  excited  additional  in- 
terest from  the  fact  that  it  was  understood  that  it  would  be  a 
test  case,  and  therefore,  that  the  result  would  settle  definitely 
the  question  of  polygamy  in  the  Territory  for  the  future. 
The  first  marriage  of  Reynolds  was  proven  without  difficulty, 
and  the  next  and  only  point  to  prove  was  the  second,  or 
polygamous  marriage.  To  do  this  the  prosecution  relied  on 
the  following  witnesses : 

"First:  Daniel  H.  Wells,  one  of  the  very  highest  digni- 
taries of  the  church,  and  the  one  who  had  solemnized  the 
marriage.  He  was  at  the  time  mayor  of  the  city  and  com- 
mander-in-chief  of  the  Nauvoo  Legion. 

"Second:  Orson  Pratt,  a  well-known  leader  and  high 
official  of  the  Mormon  church,  a  witness  of  the  marriage,  and 
one  whose  duty  it  seems  to  have  been  to  keep  the  records 
of  marriage. 

"Third :  A  bashful  young  man,  whose  name  is  forgotten, 
who  was  married  at  the  same  time  and  place,  and  under  the 
same  ceremony  as  Reynolds. 

"Fourth:  A  sister  of  Reynolds,  who  resided  with  her 
brother  and  his  second  wife. 

"One  would  suppose  with  such  a  quartette  of  witnesses, 
it  would  be  the  easiest  thing  in  the  world  to  prove  the  second 
marriage  of  Reynolds.  Yet  such  a  supposition  shows  an 
entire  ignorance  of  the  true  inwardness  of  Mormon  influence 
over  the  acts  and  words  of  the  true-believers,  inasmuch  as 
the  prosecution  was  a  failure  so  far  as  these  four  witnesses 
were  concerned.  Bear  in  mind  that  the  marriage  had  taken 
place  but  a  few  months  before  the  trial,  probably  in  August 
of  the  preceding  year.  General  Wells  swore  positively  and 
without  hesitation  that  he  had  no  recollection  of  performing 
the  marriage  ceremony,  although  the  defendant  had  been  in 
his  employ  at  the  time  of  the  marriage  and  ever  since.  Orson 
Pratt  had  never  heard  of  such  a  marriage,  and  did  not  re- 
member whether  he  had  ever  made  a  record  of  it  or  not. 
The  bashful  young  man,  who  had  kept  step  with  Reynolds 
while  they  marched  through  the  mysteries  of  the  endowment 
house  under  the  matrimonial  yoke,  had  not  the  faintest  recol- 

65 


lection  of  what  Reynolds  was  doing  there  on  that  interesting 
occasion.  Miss  Reynolds  did  know  that  the  second  wife  was 
living  at  her  brother's  house,  but  did  not  know  in  what 
capacity  she  was  there,  showing  a  lack  of  curiosity  as  rare 
as  it  was  curious.  At  this  point  the  prosecution  had  ex- 
hausted its  resources,  and  had  utterly  failed  to  make  out  a 
case.  The  district  attorney  could  not  conceal  his  chagrin  and 
disgust  over  his  discomfiture,  while  the  Mormons  in  the  court- 
room were  jubilant,  and  leaned  over  the  railing  to  con- 
gratulate the  exultant  defendant  over  his  easy  victory.  The 
Gentile  spectators  were  utterly  disheartened  at  the  turn  of 
the  testimony,  as  it  seemed  to  them  the  whole  fabric  of  the 
prosecution  had  melted  away  before  the  unblushing  perjury 
of  the  witnesses.  At  this  critical  moment,  Mr.  Baskin,  a 
well-known  lawyer  of  Salt  Lake  City,  formerly  of  Hills- 
bourough,  in  this  State,  twice  the  Liberal  candidate  for  dele- 
gate to  Congress  from  Utah — a  gentleman  who  is  probably 
as  bitterly  hated  by  the  Mormons  as  any  other  man  in  Utah- 
passed  to  the  writer  a  card  on  which  was  written,  'Tell  him 
to  call  the  second  wife.'  This  card  was  passed  to  the  district 
attorney,  who  read  it  and  sprang  to  his  feet  as  if  aroused  by 
an  electric  shock,  and  asked  the  indulgence  of  the  court  for 
a  short  time.  Marshal  Maxwell  left  the  court  room,  and  in 
ten  minutes  brought  in  the  second  wife  by  a  side-door,  from 
which  she  could  be  seen  by  the  entire  audience.  As  the 
marshal  stepped  aside  from  the  door  and  revealed  the  person 
of  Mrs.  Reynolds  No.  2  framed  in  the  doorway,  the  conster- 
nation in  the  Mormon  crowd  was  startling.  The  ghost  of 
Joe  Smith  would  scarcely  have  produced  a  more  profound 
sensation.  Reynolds  settled  himself  low  in  his  seat  with  a 
look  of  hopeless  terror,  while  the  general  look  of  dismay 
spread  through  the  entire  Mormon  auditory.  Intuitively  all 
seemed  to  think  that  here  was  a  witness  who  was  bound  to 
tell  the  truth.  Not  expecting  that  she  would  be  called  as  a 
witness,  and  knowing  positively  that  she  had  not  been  sub- 
poenaed, no  effort  was  made  to  compel  her  to  perjure  her- 
self; and  such  effort,  if  made,  must  have  failed,  as  she  must 
either  have  sworn  herself  the  lawful  wife  of  George  Rey- 
nolds, or  tacitly  confessed  to  being  his  concubine.  The  poly- 
gamous wife  took  the  oath  and  advanced  to  the  witness  stand 
in  a  very  quiet  and  unassuming  manner,  when  the  following 
facts  were  elicited:  'My  name  is Reynolds  (I  have  for- 
gotten her  Christian  name).  I  was  married  to  George  Rey- 
nolds in  the  endowment  house  in  this  city  in  August  last  by 
General  Wells.  Mr.  Orson  Pratt  was  present,  and  also  Mr. 
—(naming  the  bashful  young  man  with  the  poor  memory, 
referred  to  above).  I  spoke  to  Mr.  Wells  a  few  days  ago 
about  the  case,  when  he  told  me  that  I  need  not  be  uneasy 
about  it;  that  I  would  not  be  called  as  a  witness,  and  that 

66 


they  could  not  convict  George.  I  have  lived  with  George 
Reynolds  ever  since  our  marriage.' 

"And  that  was  all.  Now,  here  was  a  predicament. 
Everyone  who  heard  and  saw  Mrs.  Reynolds  knew  that  she 
was  telling  the  truth,  but  the  truth  convicted  General  Wells, 
Orson  Pratt,  and  the  other  two  witnesses  of  perjury,  and 
convicted  Reynolds  of  polygamy.  It  made  a  clean  sweep, 
and  utterly  confounded  the  whole  Mormon  outfit  there 
present.  But  a  moment's  reflection  showed  that  their  re- 
serves were  intact,  and  the  district  attorney,  albeit  naturally 
elated  at  the  temporary  triumph,  remembered  that  he  had  yet 
some  eight  or  nine  apparently  insurmountable  obstacles  be- 
tween him  and  a  verdict  of  guilty,  in  the  persons  of  the  many 
hard-headed  Mormons  in  the  jury-box.  He  was  evidently 
at  a  loss  what  move  to  make  next.  He  had  won  a  victory, 
but  how  to  secure  its  fruits — this  was  the  dilemma.  He 
looked  around  in  a  helpless  sort  of  a  way,  as  if  for  counsel. 
Again  Mr.  Baskin  came  to  the  rescue  with  another  card 
which  was  handed  to  the  writer,  who  read  it  hastily  and 
handed  it  to  the  district  attorney.  He  had  written,  'Do  not 
give  the  case  to  the  jury  tonight,  but  dismiss  them  to  their 
homes  until  morning.'  Relying  upon  the  sagacity  of  the  ad- 
vice, the  court  adjourned  after  gravely  cautioning  the  jury 
to  have  no  conversation  with  anyone  with  regard  to  the  trial. 
Mr.  Baskin  then  gave  the  reasons  for  his  advice,  which  in 
substance  were:  'The  Mormon  jurors  had  advice  from 
Brigham  Young  to  return  a  verdict  of  not  guilty,  which  he 
probably  thought  would  be  justified  under  the  failure  of  the 
prosecution.  These  instructions  would  have  been  followed 
at  any  hazard,  the  result  of  which  would  have  been  a  hung 
jury.  Now,  Brigham  Young  and  the  Mormons  generally 
believe  there  is  a  gentleman  here  present  (alluding  to  the 
writer)  who  represents  the  federal  government,  and  who  will 
report  the  details  of  this  trial.  The  evidence  of  the  last 
witness  was  so  conclusive  that  a  verdict  of  acquittal  would 
have  been  an  outrage  which  might  justify  the  government 
in  instituting  more  vigorous  steps  for  the  suppression  of 
polygamy.  The  jury  being  dismissed,  the  Mormon  mem- 
bers of  it  will  get  a  new  set  of  instructions,  and  tomorrow 
will  join  in  a  verdict  of  guilty,  while  Brigham  will  depend  on 
the  law's  delay,  and  on  uncertainties  of  the  courts,  to  carry 
his  point.' 

"A  few  minutes  later,  in  a  conversation  with  the  judge 
who  presided  at  the  trial,  he  advanced  the  same  theory,  and 
complimented  the  district  attorney  on  his  tact.  Whether 
the  theory  was  correct  or  not,  the  result  of  the  trial  fully 
indicated  his  sagacity.  The  cause  was  submitted  without 
argument  the  next  morning,  and  in  a  very  short  time  the 
jury  returned  with  a  verdict  of  guilty.  To  Mr.  Baskin  is  due 

67 


the  credit  of  the  conviction  of  Reynolds  in  the  district  court, 
although  he  had  no  direct  connection  with  the  case,  and  the 
writer  trusts  he  will  pardon  the  mention  of  his  name  in 
connection  with  the  trial.  It  cannot  injure  him  with  the 
Mormons,  as  their  hatred  of  him  cannot  be  intesified  by  any 
means  whatever.  Mr.  B's  instrumentalities  in  the  con- 
viction of  Reynolds  were  not  generally  known  in  Salt  Lake 
City,  but  the  recent  decision  of  the  supreme  court  in  the 
case  will  revive  interest  and  cause  all  the  details  of  the  trial 
to  be  read  by  those  who  enjoy  the  study  of  causes  celebres. 
The  trial  of  Reynolds  developed  a  peculiar  trait  of  the  wit- 
nesses to  protect  their  peculiar  institutions  at  all  hazards, 
and  the  unanimity  with  which  they  perjured  themselves  com- 
pels the  conclusion  that  there  was  somewhere  a  power  con- 
trolling and  directing  the  current  of  events  in  the  trial.  While 
the  theory  with  regard  to  the  jury  was  simply  conjecture, 
yet  the  conduct  of  the  witnesses  in  the  case  certainly  justi- 
fied the  belief  that  the  juries,  guided  by  the  same  mysterious 
power,  would  scarcely  be  expected  to  prove  more  virtuous 
when  brought  face  to  face  with  perjury  than  the  witnesses 
had  been.  Polygamy  is  bad  enough  in  all  conscience,  but 
it  is  simply  an  incident,  a  feature  of  a  grand  whole,  which 
constitutes  one  of  the  most  absolute  tyrannies  under  the 
guise  of  religion  that  the  sun  shines  on.  It  is  a  disgrace  to 
the  government  that  a  colony,  the  leaders  of  which  ordered 
and  planned  the  Mountain  Meadow  massacre,  and  who  have 
committed  hundreds,  if  not  thousands,  of  as  cowardly  mur- 
ders since  within  the  jurisdiction  of  the  federal  laws,  should 
be  allowed  to  maintain  its  organization  and  flaunt  its  treason 
to  the  world." 

If  the  alleged  agreement  between  the  district  attorney 
and  the  Mormon  authorities  had  been  made,  as  the  latter 
parties  have  always  claimed,  and,  as  they  have  taught  that 
the  constitution  of  the  United  States  is  an  inspired  instru- 
ment, they  would  have  thereby  impliedly  promised  to  yield 
obedience  to  the  law  against  polygamy  in  ;case  its  validity 
should  be  sustained  by  the  supreme  court  of  the  United  States. 
After  the  constitutionality  of  that  law  was  sustained,  the 
Mormon  authorities  and  their  adherents  still  continued  to 
advocate  and  practice  polygamy.  When  Reynolds  returned 
to  Salt  Lake  City  after  serving  in  the  penitentiary  the  term 
for  which  he  was  sentenced,  he  was  met  by  church  officials, 
not  as  a  criminal  who  had  been  convicted  and  imprisoned  for 
defiantly  committing  a  felony,  but  in  company  with  those 
officials,  at  the  head  of  a  large  procession  of  school  children 

68 


and  prominent  Mormons,  was,  as  a  heroic  victim  of  perse- 
cution, escorted  to  his  polygamous  home. 

Statements  similar  to  those  contained  in  Whitney's  his- 
tory respecting  Reynolds  were  made  throughout  the  Territory 
by  church  officials  soon  after  his  conviction.  The  Mormon 
masses  and  many  Gentiles  today  are  ignorant  of  the  fact  that 
those  statements  are  false.  Evidently  George  Sutherland,  a 
United  States  senator  from  Utah  is  ignorant  of  that  fact, 
for  in  his  speech  in  defense  of  his  associate,  Reed  Smoot, 
reported  in  the  Congressional  Record  of  January  23,  1907,  he 
said: 

"There  never  was  a  prosecution  at  all  under  the  law 
(against  polygamy)  until  fourteen  years  after  it  was  passed. 
In  1876  a  prosecution  was  commenced  against  one  George 
Reynolds.  Mr.  Reynolds  himself  furnished  the  testimony 
necessary  to  bring  about  his  own  conviction,  contenting  hinv 
self  by  depending  upon  the  sole  ground  that  the  law  was  in- 
valid and  unconstitutional,  and  as  being  an  interference  with 
his  mode  of  religious  worship." 

The  officials  of  the  Mormon  church  knew  that  General 
Cowan  was  in  the  city  for  the  purpose  of  investigating  the 
Mormon  question.  The  following  is  an  extract  from  my 
speech  before  the  Judiciary  Committee  of  the  House  in  sup- 
port of  the  Edmunds-Tucker  bill : 

"If  the  law  of  1862  had  been  faithfully  executed,  much 
of  the  hardships  that  must  now  follow  the  solution  of  this 
question  might  have  been  avoided.  The  Mormons  simply 
paid  no  attention  to  that  law.  And  why?  Because  they 
knew  it  was  impossible  to  enforce  any  penalties :  because  the 
jury  system  at  that  time  was  entirely  in  the  hands  of  the 
Church  Theocracy,  and  it  was  impossible  to  select  a  jury  in 
that  country  to  find  indictments.  It  was  impossible  to  take 
the  first  step  in  any  prosecution.  Their  position  in  relation 
to  this  law  was  that  it  was  unconstitutional  and  that  the 
amendment  to  the  constitution  of  the  United  States  gave 
them  the  right  to  practice  polygamy  as  a  religious  rite.  That 
question  has  been  settled.  The  law  of  1862  was  passed  on  in 
the  Reynolds  case,  so  that  it  is  not  now  an  open  question,  and 
I  simply  call  attention  to  it  to  show  the  absurdity  or  insin- 
cerity of  the  claim  of  these  gentlemen.  At  the  passage  of  the 
amendment  to  the  constitution  on  the  subject  of  religious 
toleration,  every  State  in  the  Union  had  laws  against  polyga- 
my. It  was  punished  by  the  laws  of  England  from  which  we 
derive  our  common  law.  Every  State  in  the  Union,  from  the 

69 


date  of  the  adoption  of  this  amendment,  up  to  the  present 
time,  has  had  laws  against  it,  and  every  Territory  except  Utah. 
These  gentlemen  say  that  that  amendment  was  understood 
and  was  intended  to  give  them  the  constitutional  right  to 
practice  this  anti-American,  Asiatic  system  in  our  republic. 
Is  it  not  absurd  to  suppose  that  this  amendment  was  intended 
to  give  immunity  to  a  practice  which  was  criminal  under  the 
statutes  of  every  State  by  which  said  amendment  was  adopted? 
Just  think  what  that  implies.  If  polygamy  is  protected  by 
the  constitution  of  Utah,  it  is  also  in  every  State  in  the  Union, 
and  it  follows  that  every  man  who  has  been  convicted  under 
State  laws  has  been  convicted  in  violation  of  the  constitution 
of  the  United  States.  Looking  at  the  claim  of  these  gentle- 
men, saying  nothing  about  the  vice  involved  in  their  system, 
in  view  of  the  circumstances  existing  when  that  amendment 
of  the  constitution  was  passed,  I  cannot  give  them  credit  of 
sincerity.  xlt  is  simply  a  subterfuge.  They  state  that  they 
made  the  case  of  Reynolds  to  test  the  constitutionality  of  the 
act  of  1862.  That  statement  is  untrue.  They  say  in  that  con- 
nection 'We  believe  the  constitution  of  the  United  States  is 
an  inspired  instrument.'  Do  not  these  gentlemen  know  that 
in  that  instrument  the  manner  is  laid  down  in  which  all  dis- 
putes may  be  determined?  The  clause  that  all  cases  arising 
under  that  constitution  shall  be  submitted  to  the  supreme 
court,  and  its  decision  shall  be  final  upon  the  question,  is  as 
much  inspired  as  any  other  clause.  They  say  that  they  made 
a  case  to  test  the  constitutionality  of  this  law.  Does  not  that 
imply  an  intention  to  yield  the  point  if  the  decision  should  be 
against  them?  The  decision  was  against  them,  but  they  still  in- 
sist that  the  law  is  unconstitutional,  and  have  continued  to 
treat  it  as  void.  Our  monogamic  system  of  marriage  is  just 
as  much  a  part  and  parcel  of  our  institutions  as  any  other. 
These  men  have,  under  pretext  of  religious  toleration, 
attempted  to  engraft  on  these  institutions  the  Asiatic  system 
of  polygamy.  I  ask,  Is  it  remarkable  that  the  American  people 
should  object  to  that?  There  is  just  one  of  two  ways  to  treat 
the  question,  that  is  either  to  acknowledge  their  claim  that 
they  have  a  right  to  practice  polygamy  and  repeal  all  laws 
against  it,  or  to  meet  and  overturn  it.  The  bill  known  as  the 
Poland  bill  was  passed  in  1874,  which  established  the  present 
jury  system  in  the  territory.  These  gentlemen  at  once  raised 
the  question  of  the  validity  of  that  act.  Afterwards,  what  is 
known  as  the  Edmunds  bill  was  passed.  None  of  these  meas- 


1On  December,  8,  1788,  after  the  passage  of  the  act  establishing  religious 
freedom,  and  after  the  convention  of  Virginia  had  recommended  as  an  amendment 
to  the  constitution  of  the  United  States  the  declaration  of  the  Bill  of  Rights  that 
"all  men  have  an  equal,  natural,  and  unalienable  right  to  the  free  exercise  of  religion, 
according  to  the  dictates  of  conscience,"  the  legislature  of  that  State  substantially 
enacted  the  statute  of  James  I,  including  the  death  penalty,  for  the  commission  of 
polygamy.  (12  Hening's  Stat.  691.) 

70 


ures  settled  the  matter.  As  fast  as  these  laws  were  passed 
these  gentlemen  raised  the  constitutional  objection.  They 
carry  their  cases  to  the  courts,  and  as  often  as  these  are  de- 
cided against  them  they  insist  that  the  laws  are  unconstitu- 
tional ;  that  they  are  being  persecuted,  and  that  their  rights 
have  been  invaded;  that  through  prejudice  on  the  part  of  the 
country,  they  are  being  injured,  and  that  the  Gentile  popula- 
tion in  their  midst  are  seeking  to  rob  and  ruin  them.  In  an- 
swer to  all  these  things  I  say  that  there  is  not  a  word  of  truth 
in  these  allegations.  In  the  brief  filed  on  their  behalf  they 
arraign  everybody  who  has  had  anything  to  do  in  any  shape  or 
form  with  the  execution  of  the  law  against  polygamy.  They 
even  impute  improper  motives  to  the  supreme  court  of  the 
United  States.  They  state  that  the  decision  of  the  supreme 
court  on  the  subject  of  the  Edmunds  bill  was  the  result  of 
popular  prejudice  to  which  the  court  yielded.  They  question 
the  integrity  of  the  legal  courts  and  of  every  person  connected 
with  the  execution  of  the  law,  however  high  their  standing. 
They  are  simply  attempting  to  create  sympathy  by  crying 
persecution.  I  undertake  to  say  that  there  is  no  desire  on  the 
part  of  the  persons  intrusted  with  the  execution  of  these  laws 
to  punish  innocent  men." 

In  a  sermon  by  Brigham  Young  reported  in  the  Journal 
of  Discourses,  Vol.  IV,  page  77,  he  said : 

"I  Jiave  many  a  time  on  this  stand  dared  the  world  to 
produce  as  mean  devils  as  we  can.  We  can  beat  them  at  any- 
thing. We  have  the  greatest  and  smoothest  liars  in  the  world ; 
the  cunningest  and  most  adroit  thieves,  and  any  other  shade 
of  character  you  can  mention.  We  can  pick  out  elders  in 
Israel  right  here  who  can  beat  the  world  at  gambling,  who 
can  handle  cards,  cut  and  shuffle  them  with  the  smartest 
rogues  on  the  face  of  God's  footstool.  I  can  produce  elders 
here  who  can  shave  the  smartest  shavers,  and  take  their  money 
from  them.  We  can  beat  the  world  at  any  game.  We  can  beat 
them  because  we  have  men  here  that  live  in  the  light  of  the 
Lord,  that  have  the  holy  priesthood,  and  hold  the  keys  of  the 
Kingdom  of  God.  But  you  may  go  through  the  sectarian 
world,  and  you  cannot  find  a  man  capable  of  opening  the  door 
of  the  Kingdom  of  God  to  admit  others  in.  We  can  do  that. 
We  can  pray  the  best,  preach  the  best,  and  sing  the  best.  We 
are  the  best  looking  and  finest  set  of  people  on  the  face  of  the 
earth ;  and  they  may  begin  any  game  they  please,  and  we  are 
on  hand  and  can  beat  them  at  anything  they  have  a  mind  to 
begin.  They  may  make  sharp  their  two-edged  swords,  and 
I  will  turn  out  the  Elders  of  Israel  with  greased  feathers  and 
whip  them  to  death." 


71 


Brigham's  assertions  are  verified  in  at  least  two  particu- 
lars in  Whitney's  history.  Whitney's  untruthful  statement  of 
the  Reynolds  case,  and  his  unjust  characterization  of  the 
action  of  Judge  McKean  and  myself  in  the  Hawkins  case,  "was 
as  dishonest  as  it  was  despicable." 


72 


CHAPTER  IX. 
Marked  Ballots  and  the  Absurd  Election  Law. 

The  act  of  the  territorial  legislature,  which  was  approved 
January  3,  1853,  and  remained  in  force  nearly  thirty  years, 
contained  the  following  sections : 

"Sec.  3.  The  senior  justice  of  the  peace  shall  be  judge  of 
elections  in  his  precinct,  and  shall  appoint  one  clerk,  and 
furnish  the  necessary  stationery  and  a  ballot  box;  and  in  the 
absence  of  a  justice  of  the  peace,  the  electors  first  assembled 
on  the  day  of  election  to  the  number  of  six,  may  appoint  some 
suitable  person  to  act  as  judge  of  that  election."  *  *  *  * 

Sec.  5.  Each  elector  shall  provide  himself  with  a  vote  con- 
taining the  names  of  the  persons  he  wishes  elected,  and  the 
offices  he  would  have  them  fill,  and  present  it  neatly  folded 
to  the  judge  of  election,  who  shall  number  and  deposit  it  in 
the  ballot  box ;  the  clerk  shall  then  write  the  name  of  the  elec- 
tor, and  opposite  it  the  number  of  his  vote." 

There  was  no  provision  respecting  the  manner  of  con- 
ducting the  election  at  the  polls,  but  the  matter  was  left  en- 
tirely to  the  discretion  of  a  single  judge.  Non-taxpayers  were 
disqualified  from  voting  or  holding  office.  The  Liberal  party, 
as  time  progressed,  continued  to  increase  rapidly  in  mem- 
bership, and  it  was  evident  that  in  a  few  years  it  would  have 
a  majority  in  Salt  Lake  City.  It  was  also  evident  that  under 
the  existing  election  law  the  Liberal  party  could  not  elect  its 
ticket  after  it  acquired  a  majority.  A  number  of  Liberal  Mor- 
mons, especially  among  the  younger  members,  from  time  to 
time  expressed  to  me  a  desire  to  vote  the  Liberal  ticket,  but 
refrained  from  doing  so  because  their  marked  ballots  would 
disclose  the  fact  and  subject  them  to  discipline  or  expulsion 
from  the  Mormon  church,  and  injure  their  business  in  a  way 
they  could  not  afford.  It  was  useless  in  my  opinion  to  expect 
the  territorial  legislature  to  change  the  absurd  election  law, 
and  in  view  of  the  fact  that  it  was  necessary  to  have  it  changed, 
in  connection  with  Senator  Christiancy,  who  was  formerly 
chief  justice  of  the  supreme  court  of  Michigan,  I  drew  up  an 
election  bill.  He  introduced  it  in  Congress  and  had  it  referred 

73 


to  the  Senate  Committee  on  Territories,  of  which  he  was  chair- 
man. The  bill  never  became  a  law,  but  its  most  vital  provi- 
sions were  incorporated  into  other  acts  passed  by  Congress. 
George  Q.  Cannon  and  myself  discussed  the  bill  before  the 
committee  and'  inasmuch  as  my  speech  will  show  its  scope  and 
purpose,  and  my  motives,  I  make  the  following  extracts  from 
it: 

"Gentlemen :  The  immunity  which  this  crime  (polygamy) 
has  so  long  enjoyed  has  made  it  bold  and  aggressive,  as  was 
apparent  from  the  remarks  of  Mr.  Cannon,  and  unless  its  pro- 
gress be  soon  arrested  by  wise  and  adequate  legislation  by 
Congress,  its  evil  at  no  distant  day  will  culminate  in  calamity 
of  great  magnitude  to  the  nation.  It  strikes  at  the  very  founda- 
tion of  society  by  destroying  the  harmony,  and  contaminat- 
ing the  pure  and  important  relations  of  husband  and  wife, 
parent  and  child.  Mr.  Cannon  objects  to  the  last  section  of  the 
bill  because  it  disqualifies  polygamists  from  voting  or  holding 
office.  He  asserts  that  polygamy  is  part  of  the  Mormon  relig- 
ion and  that  the  law  of  1862  providing  for  its  punishment  is 
in  violation  of  the  constitution,  and  until  its  constitutionality 
is  declared  by  the  supreme  court  of  the  United  States,  the 
Mormons  have  a  right  to  disregard  and  violate  its  provisions. 
The  absurdity  of  such  a  proposition  is  surpassed  only  by  its 
audacity.  The  application  of  such  a  doctrine  would  totally 
destroy  society,  because  the  thief,  the  burglar  and  the  mur- 
derer would,  with  as  much  reason  and  propriety,  make  the 
same  claim. 

"At  the  date  of  the  formation  of  the  constitution,  poly- 
gamy was  recognized  as  a  crime  throughout  the  civilized 
Christian  world.  Every  State  at  that  time  and  at  the  time  of 
the  adoption  of  the  amendment  of  the  constitution  guarantee- 
ing religious  freedom,  had  statutes  punishing  polygamy,  and 
every  Territory,  except  Utah,  has  such  statutes.  It  is  also  a 
crime  both  at  the  common  and  civil  law.  Is  it  not  therefore  the 
height  of  absurdity  to  claim  that  the  constitution  in  guaran- 
teeing religious  freedom  gives  immunity  to  a  crime  which  is 
universally  recognized  and  punished  as  such  in  every  Christian 
nation?  Suppose  some  religious  monomaniac  should  in  his 
delusion  imagine  that  he  had  received  a  revelation  that  the 
custom  of  wearing  clothes  is  a  perversion  of  nature,  and  that 
it  is  the  will  of  God  that  men  should  go  naked,  and  that  in 
obedience  to  such  a  revelation  a  sect  should  spring  up  and 
insist  upon  appearing  and  openly  mingling  in  society  in  a  nude 
condition— Would  the  constitution  protect  such  a  practice? 
No,  indeed,  and  why  not?  Simply  because  it  would  outrage 
the  general  moral  sense  of  the  community.  Such  a  practice 
would  not  be  much  less  repugnant  to  the  moral  sense  of  civil- 

74 


ized  and  Christian  people  than  is  polygamy.     The  protection 
of  religion  by  the  constitution  ends  where  license  begins. 

"The  shedding  of  human  blood  for  the  remission  of  cer- 
tain sins  is  a  doctrine  of  the  Mormon  church  as  plainly  taught 
and  as  well  understood  as  polygamy,  in  proof  of  which  the  fol- 
lowing quotations  will  fully  show.  The  Mountain  Meadows 
butcher,  John  D.  Lee,  in  his  confession  said : 

"For  the  past  seventeen  years — in  fact,  since  the  commis- 
sion of  the  crime — I  have  given  this  subject  much  thought 
and  reflection.  I  have  made  an  effort  to  bear  my  confine- 
ment with  fortitude  and  resignation,  well  knowing  that 
most  of  those  engaged  in  this  unfortunate  affair  were  led 
on  by  religious  influence,  commonly  called  fanaticism. 
And  nothing  but  devotion  to  God  and  their  duty  to  him, 
as  taught  to  them  by  their  religion  and  their  church 
leaders,  would  ever  have  induced  them  to  commit  the  out- 
rageous and  unnatural  acts — believing  that  all  who  parti- 
cipated in  the  lamentable  transaction,  or  most  of  them, 
were  acting  under  orders  which  they  considered  it  their 
duty  to  their  religion  to  obey." 

"The  following  are  quotations  from  the  sermons  of  Brig- 
ham  Young,  contained  in  the  Journal  of  Discourses,  an  official 
publication  by  the  Mormon  church.  In  speaking  of  the  words 
of  Jesus,  'Love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself/  he  says : 

"All  mankind  loves  themselves;  let  those  principles  be 
known  by  an  individual  and  he  would  be  glad  to  have  his 
blood  shed.  This  would  be  loving  ourselves  even  unto 
eternal  exaltation.  *  *  *  Will  you  love  your  brother 
and  sister  likewise  when  they  have  a  sin  that  cannot  be 
atoned  for  without  shedding  their  blood?  This  is  what 
Jesus  Christ  meant.  *  *  *  Any  of  you  who  under- 
stand the  principles  of  eternity,  if  you  have  sinned  a  sin 
requiring  the  shedding  of  blood  except  the  sin  unto  death, 
should  not  be  satisfied  or  rest  until  your  blood  should  be 
spilled,  that  you  might  gain  the  salvation  you  desire.  That 
is  the  way  to  love  mankind.  *  *  *  I  have  known  a 
great  many  men  who  have  left  the  church  for  whom  there 
is  no  chance  whatever  for  exaltation,  but  if  their  blood 
had  been  spilled  it  would  have  been  better  for  them." 
(Journal  of  Discourses,  Vol.  VI,  pp.  219-220.) 

"There  are  sins  that  cannot  be  atoned  for  by  an  offering 
upon  the  altar,  as  in  ancient  days ;  and  these  are  sins  that 
the  blood  of  a  lamb,  or  calf,  or  of  turtle  doves  cannot 
remit,  but  they  must  be  atoned  for  by  the  blood  of  the 
man."  (Idem,  Vol.  IV,  p.  54.) 

"When  the  time  comes  that  we  have  need  to  shed  blood, 
then  it  will  be  necessary  we  should  do  it,  and  it  will  be 

75 


just  as  innocent  as  to  go  and  kill  an  ox  when  we  are 
hungry,  or  in  time  of  famine."     (Ibid.,  Vol.  VI,  p.  59.) 

"Many  similar  quotations  could  be  added  from  the  Journal 
of  Discourses,  as  also  from  the  Deseret  News,  a  church  paper 
of  which  Mr.  Cannon  was  formerly  the  editor,  but  time  will 
not  permit. 

"Is  that  portion  of  the  Mormon  creed  also  protected  by 
the  constitution?  Polygamy  at  the  formation  of  the  constitu- 
tion was  as  well  recognized  as  a  crime  as  that  of  homicide, 
the  difference  being  only  one  of  grade. 

"The  gentleman  said  that  'there  has  been  only  one  con- 
viction for  polygamy  since  the  passage  of  the  law  of  1862.' 
This  is  true,  and  I  do  not  believe  that  it  will  be  possible 
to  procure  another  one  until  by  some  means  jurors  can  be 
selected  who  recognize  the  supremacy  of  municipal  law,  and 
yield  to  the  obligation  of  an  oath  administered  by  a  civil 
magistrate.  The  Mormon  people  do  not  recognize  the  suprem- 
acy of  that  law.  On  this  subject  Brigham  Young,  in  another 
sermon  said,  'I  live  above  the  law,  and  so  do  this  people/ 
Because  persons  guilty  of  open  crime  have  not  been  and  cannot 
be  punished  is  no  reason  why  they  should  continue  to  enjoy 
immunity,  but  is  the  very  best  reason  in  favor  of  the  pro- 
visions of  this  bill. 

"Suffrage  is  not  a  right,  but  a  privilege,  and  it  rests  with 
the  law-making  power  to  fix  the  limit,  and  regulate  its  enjoy- 
ment. The  laws  on  this  subject  are  various.  Persons  who 
have  engaged  in  a  duel,  either  as  principals  or  seconds,  are 
disqualified  by  the  constitutions  of  many  states,  and  by  the 
statutes  of  others,  as  also  by  the  statutes  of  Colorado  and  other 
territories  from  voting  or  holding  office.  In  some  instances 
conviction  is  required,  in  others  it  is  not.  Persons  are  like- 
wise, before  conviction,  frequently  disqualified  from  voting 
at  any  election  who  have  bet  or  are  interested  in  any  wager 
upon  the  result  thereof.  By  the  statute  which  this  bill  is 
intended  to  supersede,  persons  who  are  not  taxpayers  are 
disqualified  from  holding  office,  voting,  or  serving  on  a  jury. 
The  provisions  of  the  bill  under  consideration  apply  the 
principles  of  these  precedents  to  a  class  of  persons,  not  as  the 
legislature  of  Utah  has  done,  because  they  are  poor,  but  be- 
cause they  are  guilty  of  a  crime  alike  revolting  to  Christianity 
as  it  is  destructive  of  the  well-being  of  society. 

"Objection  is  also  made  because  the  disqualification  does 
not  depend  upon  conviction.  The  gentleman  well  knows  that 
under  a  system  of  law  which  allows  criminals  to  be  placed 
upon  juries  to  indict  and  try  each  other  there  can  be  no  con- 
victions. He  has  stated  that  there  has  been  but  one  conviction 
of  polygamy  in  fourteen  years,  and  that  was  aided  by  the 
Mormons  for  the  purpose  of  testing  the  constitutionality  of 

76 


the  law.  The  latter  part  of  that  statement  is  not  true;  but, 
even  if  it  were,  it  is  a  pregnant  circumstance  that  while  the 
gentleman  was  speaking  in  this  connection,  he  omitted  the 
only  thing  which  could  give  it  any  point,  namely,  he  was 
careful  not  to  pledge  either  himself  or  the  Mormon  people 
to  yield  submission  to  the  law  in  case  it  should  be  pro- 
nounced valid.  The  testing  of  the  constitutionality  of  that 
law  was  a  safe  experiment,  even  if  any  such  purpose  existed, 
because  if  such  an  improbable  result  should  occur  as  holding 
the  law  void,  much  would  be  gained  by  the  Mormons ;  other- 
wise nothing  would  be  lost,  but  they  could  still  go  on  and 
violate  the  law  with  impunity,  as  they  always  have  done. 

"The  gentleman  complained  because  adultery  and  fornica- 
tion are  not  also  made  disqualifying  causes.  There  is  a  great 
difference  between  the  cases.  Adultery  and  fornication  are 
not  continuing  in  their  nature,  while  polygamy  is.  Besides, 
the  polygamic  legislature  of  Utah  has  passed  the  most  strin- 
gent laws  to  suppress  and  punish  all  illicit  intercourse  between 
the  sexes,  which  are  most  harshly  and  rigidly  enforced  against 
all  classes  outside  of  the  Mormon  church,  while  members  of 
that  church  are  not  molested  in  the  indulgence  of  unbridled 
lust.  Adultery  and  fornication  even  in  Utah  are  hid  from 
the  light  of  day,  and  are  only  carried  on  behind  bolted  doors, 
and  in  hidden,  dark  streets,  while  polygamy,  which  in  its 
constituent  elements  embraces  both  adultery  and  lewd  and 
lascivious  cohabitation,  boldly  and  shamelessly  invades  the 
sacred  precincts  of  the  home,  and  its  adherents  there  revel 
in  debauchery  and  lust  in  the  home  of  the  lawful  wife,  and 
in  the  presence  of  her  family.  Even  the  sacred  ties  of  con- 
sanguinity are  disregarded  in  its  invasions,  and  it  unblushingly 
stalks  abroad  in  open  day  spreading  moral  contagion.  Adultery 
and  fornication  are  not  so  shameless  as  to  claim  constitutional 
protection,  while  polygamy,  with  an  effrontery  which  is  amaz- 
ing, makes  such  a  claim  and  asserts  for  itself  the  sanctity 
and  purity  of  holy  religion.  Adultery  and  fornication  are  not 
frequent  nor  general,  while  polygamy  is  of  daily  occurrence. 

"The  only  other  objection  worthy  of  notice  made  by  the 
gentleman,  was  to  that  portion  of  the  twenty-fifth  section, 
which  makes  it  penal  for  any  person  to  threaten,  vote  for.  or 
in  any  way  take  part  in  the  excommunication  of  any  person 
from  any  church,  or  organization  called  a  church,  on  account 
of  having  voted  for  or  failed  to  vote  for  any  particular  persons 
or  person.  While  the  bill  renders  it  impossible  to  detect  how 
anyone  votes  by  reason  of  the  manner  in  which  the  election 
under  it  is  conducted,  it  will  be  very  easy  in  the  absence  of  this 
provision  for  the  Mormon  church,  absolute  as  it  has  made  it- 
self, to  force  a  member  by  threats  of  excommunication  to  dis- 
close how  he  voted.  The  gentleman  complained  that  this  pro- 
vision interferes  with  the  church  in  fixing  the  rules  of  fellow- 

77 


ship.  That  is  exactly  what  is  intended  to  the  extent  specified 
in  the  bill  and  for  the  best  of  reasons.  No  church  has  any 
right  to  exercise  such  power,  because  in  its  exercise  the  free- 
dom and  independence  of  the  ballot  box  might  be  entirely  de- 
stroyed, and  in  Utah,  it  most  certainly  would  be.  Excommu- 
nication from  the  Mormon  church  in  Utah  means,  if  the  party 
excommunicated  be  a  laboring  man,  no  more  employment 
from  his  former  brethren.  If  he  has  a  family,  in  many  in- 
stances it  means  to  deprive  his  children  of  their  daily  bread. 
If  he  be  a  merchant  or  a  business  man,  it  means  bankruptcy 
and  financial  ruin.  To  all  persons  excommunicated,  it  means 
an  unfriendly  neighborhood,  which  as  General  Sherman  said  of 
war,  'is  hell.'  Yea,  more,  it  may  mean  personal  violence  or 
assassination.  Let  one  of  Brigham  Young's  sermons  and  the 
bloody  history  of  the  Territory  say  what  it  means.  I  quote 
from  Brigham's  sermon  published  in  the  Journal  of  Discourses, 
Vol.  I,  page  83 : 

"Now,  you  Gladdenites,  keep  your  tongues  still,  lest 
sudden  destruction  come  upon  you !  *  *  *  I  say, 
rather  than  apostates  should  flourish  here,  I  will  unsheath 
my  bowie-knife,  and  conquer  or  die  !  [Great  commotion  in 
the  congregation  and  simultaneous  burst  of  feeling  as- 
senting to  the  declaration.]  Now,  you  nasty  apostates, 
clear  out,  or  judgment  will  be  laid  to  the  line,  and  right- 
eousness to  the  plummet!  [Voices  generally,  Go  it!  Go 
it !]  If  you  say  it  is  right — raise  your  hands.  [All  hands 
up.]  Let  us  call  upon  the  Lord  to  assist  us  in  this  and 
every  good  work." 

"Strike  out  this  clause  of  the  bill  and  the  excommunica- 
tion of  a  few  persons  from  the  Mormon  church  for  voting 
against  the  church  ticket  would  do  as  much,  yea,  more  to 
affect  the  freedom  of  the  ballot  at  the  succeeding  elections 
as  any  threat  could  possibly  accomplish  at  or  before  such 
time.  If,  as  the  gentleman  asserts,  there  is  no  possibility 
that  anyone  will  be  excommunicated  from  the  Mormon  church 
for  the  causes  specified  in  the  bill,  then  the  provision  is  certainly 
harmless ;  otherwise  it  is  very  necessary. 

"The  hackneyed  cry  of  persecution  which  the  gentleman 
makes  is  not  germane  to  the  question,  and  I  have  only  this 
to  say  in  reply:  that  mere  general  assertions  will  fail  to  con- 
vince anyone  who  is  at  all  familiar  with  the  toleration  and 
liberality  which  has  always  characterized  American  communi- 
ties on  the  frontier,  especially  in  matters  pertaining  to  religion, 
that  the  Mormons  were  ever  harshly  treated  without  some 
enormous  provocation  on  their  part.  Polygamy  had  not  been 
publicly  promulgated  or  openly  practiced  when  the  Mormons 
emigrated  from  the  States.  Polygamy,  therefore,  could  not  have 
been  the  cause  of  the  disturbance  referred  to  by  the  gentleman. 

78 


"In  referring  to  the  settlement  of  the  Territory,  he 
omitted  to  state  the  fact  that,  notwithstanding  the  hostility 
of  the  heads  of  the  Mormon  church,  an  industry  has  sprung 
up  which  produces  the  principal  articles  of  exportation  of  any 
importance  in  the  Territory.  The  product  of  silver  last  year 
was  between  six  and  seven  million  dollars,  and  the  yield  of 
the  present  year,  is  expected  to  amount  to  ten  or  twelve 
millions.  There  is  also  a  large  production  of  lead  and  con- 
siderable gold.  This  important  and  growing  industry  is  almost 
exclusively  carried  on  by  the  class  whom  the  church  leaders 
in  their  tabernacle  harangues  denounce  as  'nasty  Gentiles.' 
The  development  and  increasing  wealth  of  the  Territory  are 
not  reasons,  however,  why  the  ordinary  safeguards  should 
not  be  thrown  around  the  ballot-box.  On  the  contrary,  they 
furnish  the  very  best  of  reasons  why  this  should  be  done. 
Neither  does  the  settlement  of  Salt  Lake  valley  by  Mormons 
justify  combinations  to  defeat  the  execution  of  the  law  or  con- 
stitute a  valid  reason  why  democratic  principles  should  not 
be  established  and  protected  there  by  legislation  of  Congress, 
the  territorial  legislature  having  failed  to  do  so.  Hundreds 
of  other  communities  in  this  country  have  been  instrumental 
in  redeeming  the  soil  from  the  blight  of  dense  wilderness  and 
building  up  prosperous,  progressive  cities,  yet  have  fair  elec- 
tion laws. 

"Gentlemen,  Mormonism,  according  to  Brigham  Young, 
is  at  war  with  republican  institutions,  and  is  today  a  blight, 
as  it  has  always  been,  upon  one  of  the  richest  territories  in 
the  country. 

"The  gentleman  thought  proper  to  designate  the  advocates 
of  this  bill  as  'a  ring.'  Yet  its  advocates  include  the  entire 
Gentile  population,  and  thousands  of  the  Mormon  rank  and 
file.  Both  the  Republican  and  Democratic  parties  in  the 
Territory  have  passed  resolutions  in  favor  of  it.  What  will 
be  the  effect  of  this  bill?  First,  it  excludes  a  class  of  persons 
from  the  exercise  of  a  privilege  who  have  forfeited  all  claim 
to  enjoy  the  same;  second,  it  inflicts  upon  polygamists  the 
only  punishment  which  is  practicable  by  reason  of  the  fact 
that  the  polygamist  theocracy  has  rendered  the  enforcement 
of  the  law  of  1862  by  the  courts  impossible ;  third,  it  will 
destroy  polygamy  without  violating  either  precedent  or  prin- 
ciple, by  rendering  available  an  opposition  majority  which 
at  no  distant  day  is  as  sure  to  be  the  case  as  that  the  sun 
shines  in  the  heavens.  The  only  immediate  effect,  however, 
on  theocratic  rule  will  be  (as  after  disqualifying  polygamists 
the  Mormons  have  still  several  thousand  majority  over  the 
opposition)  to  transfer  the  offices  now  almost  universally 
held  by  polygamists  to  Mormons  not  living  in  violation  of 
the  law. 


79 


"Without  such  provisions  of  law  as  this  bill  contains  the 
Mormon  church  can  keep  itself  in  power  long  after  it  ceases 
to  be  a  majority,  because  it  can  poll  or  return  whatever 
number  of  votes  may  be  necessary  to  overcome  the  opposition. 
As  the  passage  of  this  bill  will  be  the  death  knell  of  polygamy, 
I  suggest  that  the  word  'cohabits'  be  substituted  in  place 
of  'has  cohabited'  so  that  the  bill  will  then  itself  restore  per- 
sons to  civil  rights  who  are  disqualified  as  soon  as  they  cease 
to  be  polygamists  in  practice.  This  change  will  give  them 
the  opportunity  of  choosing  between  enfranchisement  and 
the  practice  of  a  pernicious  crime.  Does  this  display  im- 
proper animus?  Is  this  persecution?" 
************ 

The  experience  of  William  S.  Godbe  illustrates  what,  in 
former  days,  excommunication  from  the  Mormon  church 
meant  to  an  apostate.  The  following  extract  is  from  a  manu- 
script written  by  Mr.  Godbe,  and  placed  in  my  hands  by  one 
of  his  sons: 

"After  I  was  excommunicated,  it  was  said  by  the  people 
that  in  ninety  days — to  use  their  own  terse,  if  not  elegant 
phraseology — 'there  wouldn't  be  a  grease-spot'  left  of  me, 
and  to  carry  out  that  prediction  the  Zion  Drug  Store  was 
started,  and  I  found  the  competition  too  severe  for  me,  and 
was  forced  to  close  out  my  business.  I  lost  my  trade  on 
account  of  the  strong  feeling  against  me.  I  had  a  large  estab- 
lishment full  of  goods,  and  I  owed  money  for  part  of  these 
goods,  and  I  found  I  could  not  collect.  There  was  about 
$100,000  due  me  at  that  time,  and  practically  the  whole  amount 
is  due  now.  In  a  year  or  so  after  being  cut  off  from  the 
church,  instead  of  being  worth  at  least  $100,000,  which '  I 
should  have  been  worth,  I  found  myself  owing  that  much, 
and  paying  interest  at  a  rate  that  would  average  at  least 
$1,000  a  month.  Well,  to  meet  all  that,  I  put  myself  to  work 
with  all  my  might  and  main,  and  commenced  mining,  as  being 
about  the  only  thing  open  to  me,  and  finally  succeeded  in 
discharging  my  indebtedness  and  recovering  my  former  foot- 
ing. At  the  time  I  was  excommunicated  it  was  very  unpleas- 
ant for  me — it  was  terrific.  The  Mormons  took  advantage  of 
the  feelings  against  me  on  account  of  being  excommunicated 
and  did  not  pay  me  the  money  owing  me,  thinking  it  would 
have  a  tendency  to  crush  me,  as  prophesied.  Owing  to  this 
and  the  competition  started  against  me,  I  was  unable  to 
continue." 

Mr.  Godbe  and  E.  L.  T.  Harrison  in  1869  established 
the  Utah  Magazine,  in  which  appeared  articles  advocating 
the  opening  up  and  development  of  the  mines,  which  was 

80 


against  the  counsel  of  Brigham  Young.  Upon  refusing  to 
change  the  policy  of  the  magazine  in  that  respect,  Mr.  Godbe 
was  excommunicated  at  the  dictation  of  Brigham  Young,  as 
was  Mr.  Harrison.  The  charge  against  them,  preferred  by 
George  Q.  Cannon,  was  "apostasy  on  the  grounds  of  the 
articles  in  the  magazine  mentioned,  containing  views  on 
financial  questions  differing  with  those  of  President  Young" 
as  well  as  on  account  of  an  expressed  belief  "that  members 
of  the  church  had  not  only  the  right  to  think,  but  to  express 
their  ideas  on  such  subjects." 

At  the  trial,  Apostle  Woodruff,  who  appeared  on  behalf 
of  the  church,  asked  Mr.  Godbe  this  question :  "Do  you  believe 
that  President  Young  has  the  right  to  dictate  to  you  in  all 
things  temporal  and  spiritual?"  In  answer  Mr.  Godbe  said 
that  he  did  not  believe  in  the  extraordinary  right  claimed  for 
Brigham  Young  but  deemed  it  wise  in  commerce  to  be  guided 
by  commercial  experience  and  the  circumstances  of  the  case. 
After  Mr.  Cannon  had  read  the  charges  preferred  against  the 
accused,  he  was  asked  by  Mr.  Godbe  if  it  was  apostasy  to  differ 
honestly  with  the  measures  of  the'  priesthood.  The  reply 
was  "It  is  apostasy.  A  man  may  be  honest  even  in  hell." 
Daniel  H.  Wells,  who  was  present,  remarked  that  "the  ques- 
tion might  as  well  be  asked  whether  a  man  had  the  right  to 
differ  honestly  with  the  Almighty." 

Henry  W.  Lawrence,  who  was  intimate  with  Mr.  Godbe, 
defended  his  friend  and  voted  against  his  excommunication 
on  the  ground  that  what  he  was  charged  with  was  not  wrong 
but  praiseworthy.  For  doing  so  he  was  also,  at  the  dictation 
of  Brigham  Young,  afterward  excommunicated.  At  that  time 
he  was  very  highly  respected  by  all,  and  generally  popular. 
He  was  engaged  in  the  mercantile  business  and  built  up 
a  large  and  lucrative  trade  which,  if  he  had  sacrificed  his 
manhood,  instead  of  defending  his  friend  against  an  absurd 
charge,  and  had  observed  silence  and  remained  in  the  church, 
would  have  in  time  made  him  very  wealthy.  His  excommuni- 
cation, however,  as  in  the  case  of  Mr.  Godbe,  took  from  him  the 
mass  of  his  Mormon  customers,  ruined  his  trade,  and  forced 
him  to  go  out  of  the  mercantile  business.  In  my  experience 
of  more  than  threescore  years  and  ten  I  have  never  known 
so  great  a  financial  sacrifice  for  principle  as  that  made  by 
W.  S.  Godbe  and  Henry  W.  Lawrence. 

81 


Notwithstanding  Brigham  Young's  efforts  to  prevent  it, 
mines  were  discovered  and  developed,  and  almost  exclusively 
by  the  despised  Gentile  element,  who,  by  their  investments 
and  consummate  skill,  have  made  the  mining  industry,  next 
to  agriculture,  the  most  important  and  greatest  asset  of  the 
State. 

William  S.  Godbe  and  Henry  W.  Lawrence  were  infinitely 
better  and  wiser  than  their  fanatical  and  relentless  oppressor, 
Brigham  Young,  and  at  the  time  he  was  oppressing  them 
I  have  no  doubt,  although  heartless  and  tyrannical  as  his 
treatment  of  them  showed  him  to  be,  he  secretly  respected 
them  for  their  manly  independence. 


82 


JOHN  D.  LEE. 


CHAPTER  X. 

The  Mountain  Meadows  Massacre  and  its  Resulting  Investiga- 
tion; Shadowy  Glimpses  of  the  Endowment  House  Rites 
and  Atonement  by  Blood,  Proven  by  Church  Authority. 

For  a  considerable  time  after  arriving  in  the  Territory 
I  had  disbelieved  the  frequent  assertions  I  heard  that  the 
Mountain  Meadows  massacre  was  ordered  by  Mormon  offi- 
cials and  was  carried  out  by  a  militia  force  of  Mormons  led 
by  John  D.  Lee. 

The  massacre  of  one  hundred  and  thirty  or  more  persons, 
among  whom  were  gray-haired  grandmothers,  mothers,  young 
daughters  and  sons,  by  members  of  a  civilized  and  Christian 
race,  was  so  revolting  and  showed  such  depravity  and  utter 
disregard  of  all  religious  restraint  that  I  was  loth  to  believe 
the  assertions  referred  to. 

Upon  becoming  acquainted  with  Stephen  DeWolfe  who, 
in  1860,  was  the  editor  of  "Valley  Tan,"  the  first  Gentile  paper 
published  in  Utah,  I  expressed  to  him  my  disbelief  of  what 
I  had  heard  asserted  respecting  the  massacre.  He  replied  that 
what  I  had  heard  was  true;  that  he  had  carefully  investigated 
the  matter,  and  had  published  in  the  Valley  Tan  a  true  version 
of  the  crime.  He  subsequently  gave  me  a  copy  of  that  paper, 
and  the  occurrences  respecting  the  massacre  therein  stated 
were  substantially  the  same  as  was  afterward  shown  by  the 
evidence  in  the  first  trial  of  John  D.  Lee.  In  an  editorial 
he  also  asserted  that  the  Mormons  had  perpetrated  other 
horrible  crimes,  and  that  none  of  the  participants  had  been 
prosecuted  by  the  Mormon  authorities.  After  the  appearance 
of  that  editorial  a  committee  of  Mormons,  of  which  Jeter 
Clinton,  the  police  magistrate  of  Salt  Lake  City  was  spokes- 
man, waited  upon  Mr.  DeWolfe  and  demanded  a  retraction 
of  what  he  had  written.  Mr.  Clinton  stated  that  unless  the 
retraction  was  made  he  would  not  be  responsible  for  the 
safety  of  Mr.  DeWolfe,  as  the  editorial  had  created  great 
excitement  among  the  people,  and  many  threats  of  violence 
had  been  made  against  its  author.  The  next  editorial  written 

83 


by  Mr.  DeWolfe  after  the  demand  to  retract  had  been  made 
upon  him,  and  which  met  with  his  refusal,  contained  the 
following: 

"The  threats  made  against  me  for  making  statements 
which  I,  in  common  with  almost  every  man  in  this  valley 
not  connected  with  the  Mormon  church,  believe  to  be  true, 
afford  proof,  if  no  other  was  found,  of  the  correctness  of  all 
that  I  said  about  the  insecurity  of  life  here  to  such  as  fall 
under  the  ban  of  the  Church  authorities,  and  I  have  not  a 
word  of  retraction  to  make  of  any  line  or  paragraph  which 
I  have  written  on  this  subject;  on  the  contrary,  reiterate  again 
my  firm  belief  of  the  truth  of  all  I  have  said,  and  take  the 
risk  of  whatever  consequences  may  result  from  a  repetition  of 
my  former  statement.  In  addition  to  that  statement  I  will  add 
that  murder  has  been  sanctioned  from  the  pulpit  of  the  Mor- 
mon tabernacle  in  this  city,  and  there  is  incontestible  proof 
that  men  have  been  murdered  in  this  Territory  whose  death 
was  deliberated  about  and  decided  upon  in  meetings  over 
which  a  person  holding  a  high  position  in  the  Mormon  church 
presided.  Neither  do  I  fear  the  hierachial  authorities'  priestly 
curses  when  engaged  in  a  cause  that  I  believe  just  and 
righteous.  Nor  will  threats  or  intimidation  lead  me  to  shrink 
from  the  performance  of  any  known  duty." 

The  next  day  after  the  committee  had  waited  on  Mr.  De- 
Wolfe,  Arthur  Stainer,  a  hunchback,  bookkeeper  for  Brigham 
Young,  entered  the  office  of  Mr.  DeWolfe,  who  arose  to 
greet  him.  Stainer  approached  with  uplifted  hands  and  pro- 
nounced upon  him  in  the  most  solemn  manner,  and  in  the 
name  of  Jesus  Christ,  a  curse.  In  relating  the  incident  to  me 
Mr.  DeWolfe  laughingly  said,  "he  cursed  me  from  head  to 
foot,  and  wound  up  by  cursing  my  powers  and  parts  of  pro- 
creation, at  which  I  took  him  by  the  collar  and  ejected  him 
from  my  office."  Mr.  DeWolfe  became  my  law  partner,  and 
was  afterwards  appointed  by  President  Cleveland  to  the  office 
of  district  judge  of  the  Territory  of  Montana. 


In  1859  a  gentleman  by  the  name  of  Wm.  H.  Rogers 
accompanied  Judge  Cradlebaugh  to  Cedar  City.  The  purpose 
for  which  the  judge  went  is  disclosed  by  a  letter  written  by 
Mr.  Rogers  and  published  by  Mr.  DeWolfe  in  Valley  Tan 
on  February  29,  1860,  from  which  the  following  extracts 
are  made: 

84 


"Owing  to  the  disadvantages  in  the  location  of  Cedar 
City,  some  of  the  inhabitants  had  moved  away.  There  were 
in  consequence  a  good  many  vacant  houses  in  that  place, 
and  the  judge  obtained  the  use  of  one  of  them  to  stay  in 
while  there,  and  for  the  purpose  of  a(  courtroom. 

"As  soon  as  it  became  known  that  the  judge  intended 
holding  court,  was  to  investigate  the  circumstances  of  the 
Mountain  Meadows  massacre,  and  that  he  would  have  troops 
to  insure  protection  and  enforce  his  writs,  if  necessary,  several 
persons  visited  him  at  his  room  at  a  late  hour  of  the  night,  and 
informed  him  of  different  facts  concerning  the  massacre. 

"All  those  that  called  stated  that  it  would  be  at  the  risk 
of  their  lives  if  it  became  known  that  they  had  communicated 
anything  to  him,  and  requested  the  judge  if  he  met  them  in 
public  in  the  daytime  not  to  recognize  them  as  persons  that 
he  had  before  seen. 

"One  of  the  men  confessed  that  he  participated  in  the 
massacre,  and  gave  the  following  account  of  it: 

"Previous  to  the  massacre  there  was  a  council  held  at 
Cedar  City  in  which  President  Haight  and  Bishops  Higbee1 
and  Lee  participated.  At  this  council  a  large  number  of 
men  residing  in  Cedar  City  and  in  other  settlements  were 
appointed  to  perform  the  work  of  despatching  the  emi- 
grants. The  men  selected  for  this  purpose  were  instructed 
to  resort,  well  armed,  at  a  given  time,  to  a  spring  or 
small  stream  lying  a  short  distance  to  the  left  of  the  road 
leading  into  the  Meadows,  and  not  very  far  from  Ham- 
blin's  ranch,  but  concealed  by  intervening  hills. 

"This  was  the  place  of  rendezvous ;  and  here  the  men. 
when  they  arrived,  painted  and  otherwise  disguised  them- 
selves to  resemble  Indians. 

"Thence  they  proceeded,  early  in  the  morning,  by  a 
path  or  trail  which  led  from  the  place  of  rendezvous 
directly  into  the  Meadows.  By  taking  this  route  they 
could  not  be  seen  by  anyone  at  Hamblin's.  On  arriving 
at  the  corral  of  the  emigrants,  they  came  upon  several 
standing  outside  by  a  campfire.  These  were  fired  upon, 
and  at  the  first  discharge  several  of  them  fell  dead  or 
wounded ;  the  remainder  immediately  ran  to  the  inside 
of  the  corral,  began  fortifying  themselves,  and  preparing 
for  defense  as  well  as  they  could.  The  attack  continued 
in  a  desultory  manner  for  four  or  five  days.  The  corral 
was  closely  watched,  and  if  any  of  the  emigrants  showed 

iBishop  John  M.  Higbee  was  first  counselor  to  Isaac  C.  Haight,  president  of 
Parowan  Stake  of  Zion,  which  took  in  Cedar  City  and  all  that  part  of  the  country 
in  which  was  included  Mountain  Meadows.  Higbee  was  a  major,  and  Haight  a  colo- 
nel in  the  territorial  militia  of  which  Brigham  Young  was  commander-in-chief  and 
Daniel  H.  Wells  lieutenant-general.  Both  Higbee  and  Haight  made  many  trips  across 
the  plains  as  captains  of  wagon  trains,  escorting  the  proselytes  of  the  church  into 
Zion,  and  were  first  among  Brigham's  "useful"  men. 

85 


themselves  they  were  instantly  fired  at  from  without. 
If  they  attempted  to  go  to  the  spring,  which  was  only  a 
few  yards  distant,  they  were  sure  to  fall  by  the  fire  of 
their  assailants.  In  consequence  of  the  almost  certain 
death  that  resulted  from  any  attempt  to  procure  water, 
the  emigrants,  before  the  siege  discontinued,  suffered 
severely  from  thirst.  The  assailants  finding  that  the  emi- 
grants could  not  be  subdued  by  the  means  adopted,  re- 
sorted to  treachery  and  stratagem  to  accomplish  what 
they  had  been  unable  to  do  by  force.  They  returned  to 
their  place  of  rendezvous,  there  removed  their  disguise, 
and  again  appeared  in  their  ordinary  dress.  After  this 
Bishop  Lee  with  a  party  of  men  returned  to  the  camp 
of  the  emigrants  bearing  a  white  flag  as  a  signal  of  truce. 
From  the  position  of  the  corral  the  emigrants  were  able 
to  see  them  some  time  before  they  reached  it.  As  soon 
as  they  discovered  the  white  flag  they  dressed  a  little 
girl  in  white  and  placed  her  at  the  entrance  of  the  corral 
to  indicate  their  friendly  feelings  to  the  persons  bearing 
the  flag.  Lee  and  his  party  arriving,  were  invited  into 
the  corral  where  they  stayed  about  an  hour,  talking  with 
the  emigrants  about  the  attack  which  had  been  made 
upon  them.  Lee  told  them  that  the  Indians  had  gone 
over  the  hills,  and  if  they  would  lay  down  their  arms 
and  give  up  their  property  he  and  his  party  would  con- 
duct them  back  to  Cedar  City ;  but  if  they  went  out  with 
their  arms  the  Indians  would  look  upon  it  as  an  unfriendly 
act  and  would  again  attack  them.  The  emigrants,  trusting 
to  Lee's  honor  and  the  sincerity  of  his  statements,  con- 
sented to  the  terms  proposed,  left  their  property  and  all 
of  their  arms  at  the  corral,  and  under  the  escort  of  Lee 
and  his  party  started  in  the  direction  of  Cedar  City.  After 
they  had  proceeded  about  a  mile  on  their  way,  on  a  signal 
given  by  Bishop  Higbee  (which  was  'brethren,  do  your 
duty'),  the  slaughter  began." 

"When  we  arrived  at  the  Mountain  Meadows  in  April, 
1859,  more  than  a  year  and  a  half  after  the  massacre,  the 
ground  for  a  distance  of  more  than  a  hundred  yards  around 
the  central  point  was  covered  with  skeletons  and  bones  of 
human  beings,  interspersed  in  places  with  bunches  of  tangled 
and  matted  hair,  which  from  its  length  evidently  belonged  to 
females.  In  places  the  bones  of  small  children  were  laying 
side  by  side  with  those  of  grown  persons,  as  if  parent  and 
child  had  met  death  at  the  same  time. 

"Small  bonnets  and  scraps  of  female  apparel  were  also  to 
be  seen  in  places  on  the  ground,  and  like  the  bones  of  those 
who  had  worn  them,  were  bleached  from  long  exposure,  but 
the  shapes  in  many  instances  were  entire.  In  a  gulch  or 

86 


hole  in  the  ravine  by  the  side  of  the  road  a  large  number 
of  leg  and  arm-bones,  and  also  skulls,  could  be  seen  sticking 
above  the  surface  as  if  they  had  been  buried  there,  but  the 
action  of  the  weather  and  the  digging  of  the  wolves  had  again 
exposed  them  to  light.  The  entire  scene  was  one  too  horrible 
and  sickening  to  adequately  describe." 

The  facts  respecting  the  massacre  stated  by  Mr.  Rogers 
were  verified  by  the  evidence  in  the  first  trial  of  Lee.  I  refer 
to  Mr.  Roger's  statements  because  they  show  that  the  facts 
of  the  massacre  were  known  and  publicly  announced  as  early 
as  1860.  In  addition,  at  an  early  day  it  had  become  a  matter 
of  general  notoriety  that  John  D.  Lee  and  other  high  officials 
and  members  of  the  Mormon  church  had  perpetrated  the 
massacre.  When  I  became  convinced  of  the  complicity  of  the 
Mormons  in  that  crime,  I  made  a  memorandum  of  the  facts 
and  the  names  of  the  participants,  as  from  time  to  time  I  learned 
them,  with  the  intention  of  presenting  them  to  the  United 
States  district  attorney  whenever,  as  I  had  no  doubt  would 
eventually  be  done,  Congress  passed  laws  under  which  the 
guilty  parties  could  be  indicted  and  convicted.  Upon  the 
passage  of  the  Poland  bill  in  1874,  its  provisions  made  the 
United  States  marshal  the  executive  officer  of  the  district 
courts  and  the  United  States  district  attorney  the  prosecuting 
officer  of  those  courts  in  all  cases  arising  under  the  laws  of 
the  Territory,  and  thereby  the  territorial  jury  system  was 
changed.  After  George  Caesar  Bates  had  been  removed  as 
United  States  attorney,  and  William  Cary,  in  whom  I  had 
confidence,  had  been  appointed,  I  presented  to  the  latter  my 
memorandum  of  facts,  and  urged  him  to  take  the  steps  neces- 
sary to  present  them  before  the  grand  jury.  He  did  so,  and 
John  D.  Lee  and  other  Mormons  were  indicted.  When  the 
case  against  Lee  was  set  for  trial  Mr.  Cary  requested  me  to 
assist  him,  which  I  did.  The  evidence  at  the  trial  showed 
conclusively  that  at  a  meeting  in  Cedar  City  composed  of 
leading  officials  of  the  Mormon  church  and  a  number  of  its 
prominent  members,  it  was  decided  to  destroy  the  emigrants, 
and  the  steps  to  be  taken  in  the  accomplishment  of  that  end 
were  there  and  then  inaugurated ;  also,  that  after  the  emigrants 
had  been  induced  by  treachery,  in  the  manner  stated  in  the 
letter  of  Mr.  Rogers,  to  place  themselves  under  the  protection 
of  Lee  and  his  party,  then  the  preconcerted  plans  of  the  mas- 

87 


sacre  were  carried  out.  It  was  developed  that  a  number  of 
Indians  were  placed  in  concealment  in  a  clump  of  cedars  and 
oaks  near  the  road,  several  hundred  yards  from  the  emigrant 
corral.  The  wounded  men  and  seventeen  little  children,  too 
young  to  expose  the  awful  crime,  were  placed  in  wagons.  The 
women  and  the  other  children  were  formed  into  a  separate 
procession,  the  men  were  arranged  in  rank,  and  by  the  side 
of  each  was  placed  a  Mormon  assassin  armed  with  a  gun, 
ostensibly  to  protect  the  emigrants.  The  wagons  containing 
the  wounded  men  and  young  children,  under  order,  moved 
ahead,  the  women  and  other  children  followed  at  some  dis- 
tance behind  the  wagons,  and  the  men  with  their  ostensible 
guards  followed  at  a  distance  of  about  one  hundred  yards  in  the 
rear.  When  the  women  and  other  children  reached  the  am- 
buscade of  the  Indians,  the  signal  agreed  upon  was  given 
by  Bishop  Higbee,  and  each  fiendish  Mormon  guard  shot  or 
cut  the  throat  of  the  defenseless  victim  he  was  pretendedly 
guarding.  The  Indians,  not  more  merciless  than  the  white- 
skinned  Mormons  present,  rushed  from  ambush  and  slaugh- 
tered the  helpless  women  the  innocent  children  and  the 
wounded  men  in  the  wagons  were  slain. 

At  Lee's  camp  on  the  evening  before  the  massacre  there 
had  been  a  meeting  at  which  Isaac  C.  Haight,  John  M.  Higbee, 
and  other  officials  high  in  Mormon  councils,  as  well  as  officers 
in  the  territorial  militia,  were  present.  At  this  meeting  was 
concocted  the  treachery  by  which  the  emigrants  were  induced 
to  give  up  their  arms  and  property,  and  to  trust  Lee  and  his 
party  to  their  doom. 

The  Mountain  Meadows  massacre  was  more  atrocious 
than  either  the  massacre  of  Glencoe  or  the  night  of  St.  Bar- 
tholomew. Fifty-two  of  the  participating  conspirators  be- 
longed to  an  organization  called  the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ 
of  Latter-day  Saints.  That  fact  appeared  from  the  evidence 
in  the  first  trial  of  Lee,  and  suggests  the  query,  What  in- 
fluence engendered  such  a  fiendish  spirit  as  that  horrible 
crime  showed  its  participants  possessed?  Certainly  not  the 
teachings  of  Jesus  Christ,  for  in  no  church  under  the  sun 
in  which  the  ethics  of  Christ  are  taught  and  enjoined,  could 
any  thought  of  perpetrating  such  a  crime  arise  in  the  mind 
of  any  of  its  adherents.  That  spirit  beyond  all  reasonable 
doubt  was  actuated  by  the  pernicious  influence  exerted  upon 


the  Mormon  perpetrators  of  the  crime  by  the  oath-bound 
covenants,  sermons  and  teachings  of  the  church  to  which  they 
belonged.  This  assertion  is  supported  by  the  court  proceed- 
ings and  extensive  quotations  which  immediately  follow. 

In  1889  a  number  of  Mormon  aliens  made  application  to  be 
admitted  to  citizenship  in  the  district  court.  Objection  to  the 
admission  of  John  Moore  and  Walter  Edgar,  two  of  the  appli- 
cants, was  made  on  the  ground  which  will  appear  from  the 
following  extracts  of  the  report  of  the  proceedings  reported 
by  Frank  E.  McGurrin,  official  reporter : 

The  Court :  "In  the  matter  of  the  application  of  John 
Moore  and  Walter  Edgar  to  be  admitted  to  citizenship,  objec- 
tion was  made  to  their  admittance  as  citizens,  because  it  was 
shown  that  they  were  members  of  the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ 
of  Latter-day  Saints,  and  had  been  through  the  endowment 
house.  It  was  stated  that  it  could  be  shown  that  those  who 
had  bee-n  through  the  endowment  house — if  not  all  members 
of  that  church — had  been  required  to  take  oath,  or  had  taken 
an  oath,  or  entered  into  an  obligation  of  some  kind  that  would 
be  incompatible  with  their  duties  as  citizens  of  the  United 
States ;  that  the  oath  they  were  required  to  take  there  was  in- 
compatible with  the  oath  they  were  required  to  take  when  be- 
coming citizens.  In  the  case  of  the  applicants  Moore  and 
Edgar  and  several  others  of  a  similar  character,  the  further 
hearing  of  the  testimony  has  been  continued  until  this  morn- 
ing for  the  purpose  of  giving  the  objectors  a  chance  to  offer 
the  testimony,  which  they  claimed  they  could  furnish.  The 
court  is  now  ready  to  hear  any  testimony  they  may  offer  on 
that  subject." 

Mr.  Baskin :  "May  it  please  the  court,  on  account  of  the 
importance  of  this  question,  and  the  general  interest  the  pub- 
lic has  in  excluding  all  persons  from  being  naturalized  who 
are  not  strictly  competent,  Mr.  Dickson  and  myself  have  been 
requested  to  appear  and  participate  in  this  examination,  with 
the  permission  of  the  court." 

The  Court:  "Counsel  will  be  permitted  to  appear  and 
conduct  the  examination  of  witnesses,  and  counsel  for  the 
applicants  or  any  person  offering  to  act  as  counsel  for  them,  or 
on  behalf  of  the  church,  may  appear  also,  and  cross-examine 
witnesses,  and  offer  evidence  on  their  side.  If  they  have  evi- 
dence to  show  that  such  oaths  or  obligations  were  not  entered 
into,  or  any  evidence  that  may  tend  to  explain,  they  may  be  at 
liberty  to  present  it." 

LeGrand  Young  and  James  H.  Moyle  appeared  as  attor- 
neys for  the  applicants.  Twenty-five  witnesses  were  exam- 

89 


hied,  and  after  the  arguments  of  the  attorneys  the  matter  was 
taken  under  advisement.  Judge  Anderson  afterward  deliv-* 
ered  an  opinion,  in  which  he  said : 

"In  the  application  the  usual  evidence  on  behalf  of  the 
applicants  as  to  residence,  moral  character,  etc.,  was  intro- 
duced at  a  former  hearing,  and  was  deemed  sufficient.  Objec- 
tion was  made,  however,  to  the  admission  of  John  Moore  and 
William  Edgar  upon  the  ground  that  they  were  members  of 
the  Mormon  church,  and  also  because  they  had  gone  through 
the  endowment  house  of  that  church,  and  there  had  taken  an 
oath  or  obligation  incompatible  with  the  oath  of  citizenship, 
which  they  would  be  required  to  take  if  admitted. 

"The  claim  is  made  by  those  who  objected  to  the  admis- 
sion to  citizenship  of  these  persons  that  the  Mormon  church 
is  and  always  has  been  a  treasonable  organization,  and  in  its 
teaching  and  its  practices  hostile  to  the  government  of  the 
United  States,  disobedient  to  its  laws  and  seeking  its  over- 
throw; and  that  the  oath  administered  to  the  members  in  the 
endowment  house,  binds  them,  under  a  penalty  of  death,  to 
implicit  obedience  in  all  things,  temporal  as  well  as  spiritual, 
to  the  priesthood,  and  to  avenge  the  death  of  the  prophets, 
Joseph  and  Hyrum  Smith,  upon  the  government  and  people 
of  the  United  States.  The  taking  of  further  testimony  at  this 
time  is  for  the  purpose  of  determining  whether  or  not  these 
allegations  are  true.  Those  objecting  to  the  rights  of  the 
applicants  to  be  admitted  to  citizenship,  introduced  eleven  wit- 
nesses who  have  been  members  of  the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ 
of  Latter-day  Saints.  Several  of  these  witnesses  had  held  the 
position  of  bishop  in  the  church,  and  all  had  gone  through  the 
endowment  house  and  participated  in  its  ceremony.  The  testi- 
mony of  these  witnesses  was  to  the  effect  that  every  member 
of  the  church  was  expected  to  go  through  the  endowment 
house,  and  that  they  nearly  all.  do  so ;  that  marriages  are  usu- 
ally solemnized  there,  and  that  those  who  are  married  else- 
where go  through  the  endowment  house  ceremony  at  as  early  a 
date  thereafter  as  practicable,  in  order  that  the  martial  relations 
shall  continue  through  eternity.  That  these  ceremonies 
occupy  the  greater  part  of  a  day,  and  include  the  taking  of  an 
oath,  obligation,  or  covenant,  by  all  who  receive  their  endow- 
ments, that  they  will  avenge  the  blood  of  the  prophets, 
Joseph  and  Hyrum  Smith,  upon  the  government  of  the  United 
States  and  will  enjoin  this  obligation  upon  their  children  unto 
the  third  and  fourth  generations ;  that  they  will  obey  the  priest- 
hood in  all  things,  and  will  never  reveal  the  secrets  of  the 
endowment  house,  under  the  penalty  of  having  their  throats 
cut  from  ear  to  ear,  their  bowels  torn  out,  and  their  hearts  cut 
out  of  their  bodies.  The  right  arm  is  anointed  that  it  may  be 
strong  to  avenge  the  blood  of  the  prophets.  An  undergarment, 

90 


a  sort  of  combination  of  shirt  and  drawers  called  an  endow- 
ment robe,  is  then  put  on,  and  is  to  be  worn  ever  after.  On 
this  robe  near  the  throat,  and  over  the  heart,  and  in  the  region 
of  the  abdomen,  are  certain  marks  or  designs  intended  to 
remind  the  wearer  of  the  penalties  that  will  be  inflicted  in  case 
of  a  violation  of  the  oath,  obligation  or  covenant,  he  or  she 
has  taken  or  made. 

"On  behalf  of  the  applicants,  fourteen  witnesses  testified 
concerning  the  endowment  ceremony,  but  all  of  them  declined 
to  state  what  oaths  are  taken,  or  what  obligations  or  coven- 
ants are  entered  into,  or  what  penalties  are  attached  to  their 
violation ;  and  these  witnesses,  when  asked  for  their  reasons  of 
declining  to  answer,  stated  that  they  did  so  on  a  point  of  honor, 
while  several  stated  that  they  had  forgotten  what  was  said 
about  avenging  the  blood  of  the  prophets.  John  Henry  Smith, 
one  of  the  twelve  apostles  of  the  church,  testified  that  all  that 
was  said  in  the  endowment  ceremony  about  avenging  the 
blood  of  the  prophets,  is  said  in  a  lecture,  in  which  the  ninth 
and  tenth  verses  of  the  sixth  chapter  of  Revelations  are  recited. 
Other  witnesses  for  the  applicants  testified  that  this  is  the 
only  place  in  the  ceremony  where  the  avenging  of  the  blood 
of  the  prophets  is  mentioned.  John  Clark,  a  witness  for  the 
applicants,  testified  that  he  took  some  obligations,  made  some 
promises,  entered  into  some  covenants  in  the  endowment 
house,  and  wore  his  endowment  robes,  but  did  not  know  the 
significance  of  the  slit  over  the  heart.  E.  L.  T.  Harrison,  an- 
other of  applicants'  witnesses,  testified  that  he  had  a  clear 
recollection ;  that  his  right  arm  was  washed  and  something 
said  about  his  being  made  stronger  to  avenge  the  death  of  the 
prophets,  and  that  the  names  of  Joseph  and  Hyrum  Smith 
were  not  mentioned,  but  were  understood  to  be  among  the 
number  whose  blood  was  to  be  avenged ;  and  E.  G.  Wooley,  a 
witness  for  the  applicants,  testified  that  they  were  to  pray  for 
the  Lord  to  avenge  the  blood  of  the  prophets.  Every  other 
witness  for  the  applicants  who  was  asked  the  question,  stated 
that  Joseph  and  Hyrum  Smith  were  understood  to  be  included 
among  the  prophets  whose  blood  was  to  be  avenged.  The  wit- 
nesses for  the  applicants,  while  refusing  to  disclose  the  oaths, 
promises  and  covenants  of  the  endowment  ceremony,  and  the 
penalties  attached  thereto,  testified  generally  that  there  was 
nothing  in  the  ceremony  inconsistent  with  loyalty  to  the  gov- 
ernment of  the  United  States,  and  that  the  government  was 
not  mentioned.  One  of  the  objects  of  this  investigation  is 
to  ascertain  whether  the  oaths  and  obligations  of  the  endow- 
ment house  are  incompatible  with  good  citizenship.  The 
refusal  of  applicants'  witnesses  to  state  specifically  what  oaths, 
obligations  or  covenants  are  taken,  or  entered  into  in  the  cer- 
emonies, renders  their  testimony  of  but  little  value  and  tends 

91 


to  confirm  rather  than  contradict,  the  evidence  on  this  point 
offered  by  the  objectors.  The  evidence  established  beyond  a 
reasonable  doubt  that  the  endowment  ceremonies  are  incon- 
sistent with  the  oath  an  applicant  for  citizenship  is  required 
to  take,  and  that  the  oaths,  obligations,  and  covenants  there 
made  or  entered  into  are  incompatible  with  the  obligations  and 
duties  of  citizens  of  the  United  States.  The  applications  of 
John  Moore  and  Walter  Edgar,  both  of  whom  were  shown  on 
the  former  examination  to  be  members  of  the  Mormon  church, 
and  who  have  gone  through  the  endowment  house,  are  there- 
fore denied." 

As  showing  the  character  of  the  testimony  of  the  wit- 
nesses on  behalf  of  the  applicants,  that  of  James  H.  Moyle  and 
John  Henry  Smith,  nephew  of  the  prophet,  Joseph  Smith,  are 
here  set  out.  Mr.  Moyle  took  the  stand  as  a  witness  for  appli- 
cants. Being  duly  sworn,  he  testified  that  he  was  a  member  of 
the  Mormon  church,  and  had  been  through  the  endowment 
house  twice,  once  when  married,  and  once  ten  or  twelve 
years  ago. 

Mr.  Dickson :  Did  you  take  your  endowments  at  that 
time?  A.  I  took  my  endowments  both  times. 

Q.  Did  you   take  any  oaths  at  that  time?     A.  No,  sir. 

Q.  Or  covenant?    A.  No,  sir. 

Q.  What?  A.  Well,  covenant — excuse  me;  certainly,  I 
took  a  number  of  covenants. 

Q.  Did  you  take  any  obligations  upon  yourself?  A.  Yes, 
sir. 

Q.  With  reference  to  the  priesthood?  A.  In  what  res- 
pect? 

Q.  Obedience  to  the  priesthood?    A.  No,  sir. 

Q.  Nothing  of  the  kind?    A.  No,  sir. 

Q.  Not  even  by  implication?  A.  No,  sir;  not  even  by 
implication. 

Q.  Are  you  testifying  without  any  mental  reservation 
about  it?  A.  I  am,  positively,  without  any  mental  reservation 
whatever. 

Q.  Was  there  any  penalty  explained  to  you,  or  spoken  of 
as  a  consequence  of  the  violation  of  your  covenants?  A.  That 
I  decline  to  answer. 

Q.  Why?  A.  Simply  because  it  is  a  matter  which  I 
regard  as  sacred ;  I  say,  that  there  was  no  covenant  or  nothing 
that  was  done  there  in  which  I,  in  any  way— 

Q.  Just  answer  my  question,  sir?    A.  I  decline  to  answer. 

[Note — The  Questions  and  Answers,  where  found  herein,  are  true  abstracts  of 
the  court  records,  and  this  being  obvious  to  the  reader,  the  usual  "quotation  marks" 
signifying  converse  have  been  omitted  for  reasons  of  appearance,  and  expedience  and 
facility  for  the  casual  reader. — Ed.] 

92 


Q.  Then  stop  when  you  decline  to  answer.  A.  Yes,  sir; 
I  decline  to  answer. 

Mr.  Dickson :    That  is  all. 

Witness :  And  in  behalf  of  my  declaration  to  the  court, 
I  want  to  say  this,  that  my  reason  for  it  is  this,  that  there 
was  nothing,  no  promise  made,  but  for  chastity  and  for  honor, 
and  for  good  conduct;  there  was  nothing  said  by  which  I 
bound  myself  in  any  way  against  the  government,  or  made  or 
vowed  that  I  would  in  any  way  act  in  antagonism  to  the  gov- 
ernment, or  that  has  any  bearing  or  relevancy  to  this  issue. 

Mr*.  Dickson  :  Now  are  you  through?  A.  As  to  those  mat- 
ters that  I  regard  as  secret  and  sacred  I  decline  to  answer. 

Q.  Are  you  through  now?  A.  Because  it  has  nothing  to 
do  with  the  case. 

Q.  Have  you  finished?  A.  I  do  not  know  whether  I  have 
or  not.  If  you  have  anything  to  ask,  I  am  ready  to  hear. 

Q.  I  don't  want  to  interrupt  you.  Are  you  through  with 
your  explanation?  A.  I  am  prepared  to  hear  you. 

Q.  Was  there  anything  said  by  any  person  in  your  hear- 
ing about  'avenging  the  death  of  the  prophets?'  A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  What  was  that?  A.  It  would  be  a  matter  of  impossi- 
bility for  me  to  relate  what  it  is. 

Q.  I  mean  the  prophets,  Joseph  and  Hyrum?  A.  Nothing 
whatever. 

Q.  The  martyred  prophets?  A.  The  martyred  prophets, 
yes. 

Q.  What  was  it?  A.  It  was  nothing  more  nor  less  than 
this :  The  passage  of  scripture — I  can't  recall  it.  If  I  had  the 
bible  here  I  could  find  it.  It  is  in  the  book  of  Revelations ;  it 
runs  something  like  this — "Oh,  Lord,  holy  and  true,  how  long 
shall  our  blood  remain  unavenged."  It  was  something  of  that 
kind,  and  I  am  not  certain  but  what — my  recollection  is,  that 
there  was  nothing  said  in  connection  with  that  as  a  matter  of 
instruction.  I  will  state  this  much  in  order  that  the  matter 
may  be  fully  explained — that  in  the  process  of  receiving  endow- 
ments there  are  addresses  delivered  by  the  elders  who  are 
officiating;  and  in  one  address  instruction  is  given  that  we 
should  pray  that  God  would  avenge  the  blood  of  the  martyred 
prophets.  That  is  all. 

Q.  That  is  all?    A.  That  is  all. 

Q.  Wasn't  there  a  penalty  of  death  pronounced  there? 
Wasn't  it  explained  to  you  that  the  penalty  of  a  violation  of 
any  of  your  covenants  would  be  death?  A.  I  decline  to 
answer. 

Q.  That — you  decline  to  answer ;  all  right. 

Mr.  Baskin:  Wasn't  one  of  these  penalties  that  you 
should  have  your  throat  cut  across?  A.  With  reference  to 
what  covenant? 

93 


Q.  Well,  with  reference  to  the  covenant  you  took  there f 
A.  I  decline  to  answer. 

Q.  Wasn't  the  penalty  that  your  bowels  should  be  torn 
out?  A.  I  decline  to  answer  that  unless  you  tell  me  what  you 
want  me  to  answer. 

Q.  And  that  your  heart  should  be  torn  out?  A.  (No 
response.) 

Mr.  Baskin :  That's  all.  (Thereupon  the  witness  left  the 
stand.) 

The  direct  examination  of  John  Henry  Smith,  one  of  the 
twelve  apostles,  by  LeGrand  Young,  in-chief,  is  as  follows : 

Q.  I  will  ask  you,  Mr.  Smith,  if,  in  the  course  of  the  admin- 
istration of  the  ceremonies  there  in  the  endowment  house, 
there  is  any  covenant  or  oath  or  affirmation  made  by,  or  re- 
quired of,  those  passing  through  there — that  they  will  avenge 
the  blood  of  the  prophet  on  this  nation,  or  its  people,  or 
against  the  government  of  the  United  States?  Has  there 
ever  been,  since  you  first  went  through  the  endowment  house? 
A.  I  absolutely  declare  that  there  was  no  such  oath,  or  such 
covenant,  nor  such  bond  entered  into  by  me ;  nor  did  I  ever 
administer  such  an  oath,  covenant,  or  bond  to  any  man,  that 
could  be  construed  by  any  reasonable  construction  of  lan- 
guage, anyway  upon  the  earth,  to  mean  a  thing  of  that  kind ; 
and  will  say  here  for  myself,  that  had  any  man  presented  to 
me  an  oath  that  would  have  bound  me  to  become  a  deliberate 
enemy  of  my  country  that  I  love  and  respect,  I  would  have 
repudiated  it  upon  the  spot. 

Q.  Is  there  any  thing  in  the  endowment  ceremony  that 
teaches,  promises,  or  in  any  way  countenances  the  right  of 
one  man  to  shed  the  blood  of  another.  A.  No,  sir. 

Q.  Is  there  any  thing  in  the  teachings  of  the  church  from 
the  first  revelation  to  the  .last?  A.  No,  sir. 

Cross-examination  by  Mr.  Dickson :  Q.  I  understand 
you  to  say  that  you  have  a  very  deep  affection  for  your  coun- 
try. A.  I  have,  sir. 

Q.  You  mean,  by  "country,"  the  United  States?  A.  1 
have,  sir. 

Q.  And,  that  if  you  had  been  required  to  enter  into  any 
covenants  or  obligations  of  any  character  which  was  antag- 
onistic to  your  duty  as  a  citizen  of  your  country,  you  would 
have  promptly  repudiated  it?  A.  I  say  so,  even  at  that  early 
age. 

Q.  And  that  has  always  been  your  attitude?  A.  That  is 
today,  and  was  then. 

Q.  Are  you  a  polygamist?    A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  When  did  you  enter  into  polygamy?  A.  I  entered 
into  it  twelve  years  ago. 

94 


Q.  Didn't  you  know  that  that  was  against  a  law  of  your 
country?  A.  I  knew  that  there  was  a  contest  as  to  the  consti- 
tutionality of  a  law  that  had  been  passed  by  Congress. 

Q.  Didn't  you  know  that  that  was  against  the  law  of  your 
country,  and  that  the  law  had  been  declared  prior  to  that,  to 
be  a  constitutional  and  valid  law?  A.  No,  sir. 

Q.  Did  you  continue  after  the  passage  of  the  law  of  1882 
to  live  in  violation  of  it?  A.  I  decline  to  answer  that  ques- 
tion. 

Q.  If  you  did  continue  to  live  in  violation  of  that  law 
after  you  knew  that  its  constitutionality  had  been  upheld  by 
the  supreme  court  of  the  United  States,  would  you  still  main- 
tain that  you  have  a  deep  affection  for  the  laws  of  your 
country?  A.  Yes,  sir.  The  law  of  Congress  was  directed 
against  the  principle  of  my  faith,  and  that  principle  of  my 
faith  was  introduced,  acknowledged,  and  had  been  taught  and 
established  for  nearly  forty  years. 

Q.  Didn't  you  know  that  the  Congress  of  the  United 
States,  as  early  as  1862,  prohibited  the  practice  of  polygamy  in 
the  Territory  of  Utah?  A.  No,  sir.  It  prohibited  the  prac- 
tice of  bigamy  in  the  Territory  of  Utah. 

Q.  Well,  what  distinction  do  you  make  between  bigamy 
and  polygamy?  A.  I  make  this  distinction — that  a  bigamist 
is  a  man  that  marries  a  wife,  and  then  marries  another,  deceiv- 
ing the  first  by  not  permitting  her  to  know  that  he  has  mar- 
ried a  second,  or  the  second  to  know  that  he  had  married  the 
first. 

Q.  According  to  your  understanding,  if  the  first  and 
second  wife,  at  the  time  of  the  second  marriage  had  knowledge 
of  situation  of  the  man,  that  there  is  no  bigamy.  Is  that  it? 
A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  Do  you  believe  in  the  revelation  of  "celestial"  mar- 
riage? ,  A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  Do  you  understand  that  revelation  to  be  to  this  effect — 
that  if  the  first  wife  refuses  to  consent  to  her  husband  taking 
a  second  wife,  she  shall  be  damned?  A.  I  understand  that 
principle;  and  a  good  many  women  have  taken  that  chance. 
Under  the  Mormon  theory  they  shall  be  damned. 

Q.  What  part  of  that  revelation  do  you  reject?  A.  I 
accept  the  whole  revelation. 

Q.  If,  believing  in  that  revelation,  you  felt  it  your  duty 
to  take  the  second  living  wife  for  time  as  well  as  eternity,  and 
your  first  wife  withheld  her  consent,  would  you  not  yield 
obedience  to  the  will  of  God,  and  take  a  second  wife.  A.  Yes, 
sir.  If  I  felt  to  do  it. 

(After  some  discussion  between  the  counsel,  the  court 
ruled :  "The  question  of  whether  the  constitutionality  of  the 
law  had  been  passed  upon  or  not  is  immaterial,  because  until 

95 


the  supreme  court  of  the  United  States  had  held  the  law  un- 
constitutional, it  is  the  duty  of  the  citizens  to  obey  it.") 

Q.  Knowing  that  there  was  a  law  upon  the  statute  books 
of  the  United  States  making  it  a  crime  for  you  or  any  other 
man  in  this  Territory  who  had  a  wife  living  to  take  another 
wife,  didn't  you  violate  that  law?  A.  Yes,  sir.  I  did  violate 
that  law  upon  the  statute  books.  I  did  this  upon  the  basis 
that  it  was  unconstitutional. 

Q.  After  you  knew  the  constitutionality  of  this  class  of 
legislation  had  been  upheld,  you  still  continued  to  violate  that 
law,  didn't  you?  A.  I  decline  to  answer. 

Q.  If  you  did  continue  to  violate  it  after  you  knew  its 
constitutionality  was  upheld,  don't  you  say  that  where  the 
law  of  the  land  comes  in  conflict  with  what  you  believe,  as 
revealed  to  your  church,  that  you  will  follow  the  latter  and  re- 
ject the  former?  A.  When  the  law  of  the  land  takes  my  reli- 
gion that  is  established  and  fixed,  and  that  I  have  practiced  and 
observed,  while  the  constitution  of  the  United  States  shall 
remain  I  shall  think  I  am  protected  in  the  practice  and  obser- 
vance of  my  religion  so  long  as  I  wrong  no  other  being.  As  I  re- 
marked, I  had  taken  upon  myself  an  agreement  and  covenant 
that  was  a  perpetual  one.  Were  I  outside  of  that  condition 
in  regard  to  that  matter,  I  would  be  reasonably  a  free  man. 

Q.  Isn't  it  true  that  your  church,  through  its  recognized 
officers  and  teachers  and  leaders,  has  taught  for  years,  pub- 
licly and  privately,  that  the  Kingdom  of  God  was  now  estab- 
lished on  the  earth  in  the  form  of  the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ 
of  Latter-day  Saints  ?  A.  I  have  heard  them  use  that  name. 

Q.  And  you  have  heard  every  apostle  of  the  church  teach 
that  doctrine,  have  you  not?  A.  Not  as  a  doctrine,  but  an- 
nounce it,  in  the  course  of  talk,  "this  is  the  Kingdom  of  God." 

Q.  And  say  it  was  the  duty  of  the  people — meaning  the 
members  of  the  church — to  follow  the  counsels  of  the  men  at 
the  head  of  the  church  in  respect  to  building  up  the  Kingdom 
of  God  on  earth,  haven't  you?  A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  Weren't  the  people  instructed  to  pray  the  Lord  to 
avenge  the  blood  of  the  prophets,  and  teach  that  to  their  chil- 
dren and  their  children's  children?  A.  I  -have  no  remem- 
brance of  any  such  instructions — of  that  positive  kind. 

Q.  Well,  that  they  were  instructed  to  pray  to  the  Lord  to 
avenge  the  blood  of  the  prophet,  wasn't  that  it?  A.  I  decline 
to  answer  any  further  questions  with  regard  to  that. 

Q.  What  penalties  were  attached  with  regard  to  the  viola- 
tion of  the  covenants  that  you  took  in  the  endowment  house? 
A.  I  decline  to  make  any  statement. 

Q.  Wasn't  one  of  the  penalties,  "that  you  would  have  your 
throat  cut?"  A.  I  decline  to  answer.  (And  the  witness  declined 
to  answer  all  questions  asked  him  on  that  subject.) 

96 


Witness :  Your  Honor,  I  would  like  to  make  one  statement 
right  here,  and  that  is  this :  That  Oliver  Cowdrey,  the  immediate 
friend  and  associate  of  Joseph  Smith,  apostatized  from  the  Mor- 
mon church.  He  was  never  killed.  He  knew  all  that  Joseph 
Smith  knew.  David  Whitmore  and  Martin  Harris,  who  were 
his  immediate  associates,  apostatized  from  the  church.  They  were 
never  hurt,  in  any  degree.  Every  one  of  them  died  outside  of 
the  church.  And  the  fact  that  Mr.  Baskin,  who  is  a  pronounced 
enemy,  and  has  been  from  the  first — and  I  have  always  respected 
him  for  his  honesty — has  never  let  up  for  a  minute;  he  has 
fought  the  Mormons  from  the  first  until  this  day,  and  as  viciously 
as  any  man  ever  did. 

Mr.  Dickson:  What  is  the  penalty  for  going  against  the 
Lord's  anointed  and  heads  of  the  church  ?  A.  I  decline  to  answer 
to  penalties. 

Q.  How  long  had  you  married  your  first  wife  until  you 
took  a  second?  (No  answer.) 

Dr.  Heber  John  Richards,  another  witness  for  the  applicants, 
upon  cross-examination,  testified  as  follows: 

Q.  You  say  there  was  no  covenant  to  avenge  the  blood  of 
the  prophets  upon  this  nation.  A.  None  that  I  heard  of. 

Q.  What  was  said  about  avenging  the  blood  of  the  prophets  ? 
A.  In  the  fore  part  of  the  ceremony,  in  the  anointing,  they 
anointed  my  arm,  that  it  might  be  strong  to  avenge  the  blood 
of  the  prophets,  and  that  was  all  that  was  said. 

Q.  What  was  said  about  avenging  the  blood  of  Joseph  and 
Hyrum  ?  A.  Nothing  whatever  about  Joseph  and  Hyrum ;  but 
I  recollect  it  was  just  "prophets." 

Q.  What  obligation  did  you  take  with  reference  to  obedience 
to  the  priesthood  in  all  things  ?  A.  If  any,  it  has  slipped  my  mind, 
I  don't  remember. 

Q.  What  teachings  was  there  in  reference  to  polygamy? 
A.  I  don't  remember  anything  being  said  about  polygamy. 

Q.  Did  you  take  any  obligation  under  penalty?  I  wish  you 
would  state  it  in  substance.  A.  I  couldn't  do  it — I  couldn't  do  it 
if  I  was  willing,  and  I  don't  feel  willing  to. 

Q.  Well,  doctor,  it  has  been  stated  upon  the  witness  stand 
that  if  a  man  apostatized  from  the  church,  the  duty  of  those 
who  have  been  through  the  endowment  house,  was  to  go  and 
murder  or  kill  him.  Did  you  hear  anything  of  that  sort  ?  A.  No, 
sir.  I  can  explain  to  you,  what  I  understood  by  that  was  simply 
this:  That  after  I  had  become  a  member  of  the  church,  if  I 
then  fell  away,  I  could  get  remission  if  I  went  voluntarily  and 
asked  for  the  atonement  of  my  blood,  but  not  without  it ;  it  must 
come  by  my  desire,  the  same  as  baptism  does.  If  I  was  taken 
out  and  baptized  against  my  will,  it  would  do  me  no  good; 
and  if  I  was  killed  against  my  will  it  would  do  me  no  good. 

97 


Q.  And  it  would  be  appropriate  when  they  made  the  request 
for  some  brother  to  shed  his  blood?  A.  Yes,  some  person  who 
was  authorized  to  do  so. 

Q.  And  it  wouldn't  be  murder  ?  A.  It  wouldn't  be  murder — 
it  would  be  murder  probably  in  the  eyes  of  the  law,  but  not  in 
the  eyes  of  the  church. 

Q.  And  that  was  taught?    A.  That  was  taught. 

***#*****jjsj)«;je 

Miss  Owens  was  converted  in  England  by  a  man  named 
Miles.  Having  plighted  her  troth  to  him,  she  was  induced  to 
accompany  him  to  Utah  before  they  married  as  he  was  desir- 
ous of  having  the  marriage  ceremony  performed  in  the  endow- 
ment house.  Shortly  after  arriving  in  Salt  Lake  City  she 
ascertained  that  Miles  was  also  engaged  to  be  married  to  a 
Miss  Spencer,  and  that  Miles  intended  to  marry  them  both  at 
the  same  time  in  the  endowment  house.  To  this  Miss  Owens 
most  strenuously  objected;  but  being  so  far  away  from  her 
native  home,  among  strangers,  she  was  finally  prevailed  upon 
to  consent  on  condition  that  she  should  be  made  the  first  and 
legal  wife  of  Miles,  and  Miss  Spencer  the  second.  After  the 
parties  had  gone  through  the  ceremonies  of  the  endowment 
house,  at  a  social  entertainment  given  in  honor  of  the  newly 
married  parties  at  the  residence  of  Angus  Cannon,  the  fact 
was  revealed  to.  Miss  Owens  that  she  had  been  deceived,  and 
in  place  of  becoming  the  first  wife  by  the  ceremony,  she  was 
only  a  plural  one.  She  rebelled,  and  at  her  instance  Miles 
was  criminally  prosecuted  and  convicted.  Shortly  after  the 
ceremony  was  performed,  she  made  a  statement  of  what  tran- 
spired in  the  endowment  house,  from  which  the  following  is 
an  extract : 

"*  *  *  Joseph  F.  Smith  then  came  to  where  we  were 
all  waiting,  and  told  us  that  if  we  wanted  to  back  out,  now  was 
our  time,  because  we  should  not  be  able  afterward,  and  that 
we  were  bound  to  go  right  through.  All  those  who  wanted 
to  go  through  were  told  to  hold-  up  their  hands,  which,  of 
course,  everyone  did,  believing  that  all  the  good  and  holy 
things  that  were  to  be  seen  and  heard  in  the  House  of  the 
Lord  were  yet  to  come.  He  then  told  us  that  if  ever  any  of 
us  attempted  to  reveal  what  we  saw  and  heard  in  the  House, 
our  memories  would  be  blighted,  and  we  should  be  everlast- 
ingly damned,  for  they  were  things  too  holy  to  be  spoken  of 
between  each  other  after  we  had  left  the  endowment  house. 
We  were  then  told  to  be  very  quiet,  and  listen.  Joseph  F. 
Smith  then  went  away. 


"They  then  proceeded  to  give  us  the  first  grip  of  the 
Aaronic,  or  lesser  priesthood,  which  consists  in  putting  the 
thumb  on  the  index  finger  and  clasping  the  hands  round.  We 
were  then  made  to  swear  to  obey  the  laws  of  the  Mormon 
church  and  all  they  enjoin,  in  preference  to  those  of  the  United 
States.  The  penalty  for  revealing  this  grip  and  oath  is  that 
you  will  have  your  throat  cut  from  ear  to  ear,  and  your  tongue 
torn  out  from  your  mouth.  The  sign  of  the  penalty  is  drawing 
the  hand,  with  the  thumb  pointing  towards  the  throat,  sharply 
across,  and  bringing  the  arm  to  the  level  of  the  square,  and 
with  the  hand  upraised  to  heaven,  swearing  to  abide  the  same. 

"Then  came  a  man  in  and  said  that  the  Gospel  had  been 
again  restored  to  the  earth,  and  that  an  Angel  had  revealed 
it  to  a  young  boy  named  Joseph  Smith,  and  that  all  the  gifts, 
blessings  and  prophecies  of  old  had  been  restored  with  it,  and 
this  last  revelation  was  to  be  called  the  Latter-day  Dispensa- 
tion. The  priests  pretended  joyfully  to  accept  this,  and  said 
it  was  the  very  thing  they  were  in  search  of,  nothing  else 
having  had  the  power  to  satisfy  them.  They  then  proceeded  to 
give  us  the  first  grip  of  the  Melchisedek,  or  higher  priesthood, 
which  is  said  to  be  the  same  that  Christ  held.  The  thumb  is 
placed  on  the  knuckle  of  the  index  finger,  which  is  placed 
straight  along  the  hand,  while  the  lower  part  of  the  hand  is 
clasped  with  the  remaining  fingers.  The  robe  for  this  grip 
was  changed  from  the  right  to  the  left  shoulder.  We  were 
then  made  to  swear  to  avenge  the  death  of  Joseph  Smith,  the 
martyr,  together  with  that  of  his  brother  Hyrum,  on  this 
American  nation,  that  we  would  teach  our  children,  and 
children's  children,  to  do  so.  The  penalty  for  this  grip  and 
oath  was  disembowelment." 

Scores  of  apostate  Mormons  of  credibility  who  have  gone 
through  the  endowment  ceremonies  have,  in  confidence,  stated 
to  me  that  such  oaths  were  administered.  Numerous  authors 
of  books  have  also  stated  that  they  were  so  administered. 
Among  them  are  Mrs.  Stenhouse,  authoress  of  "Tell  It  All," 
and  Ann  Eliza  Young,  the  nineteenth  wife  of  Brigham,  who 
went  through  the  endowment  ceremony  when  she  was  married 
to  that  alleged  holy  prophet,  and  whose  writings  expose  many 
secret  practices  of  the  church. 

From  the  foregoing  when  viewed  in  connection  with  the 
extracts  of  Mormon  sermons,  here  following,  I  do  not  think 
that  any  unbiased  person  will  doubt  the  fact  that  such  oaths 
were  administered  in  the  endowment  house,  and  that  those 
sermons  inspired  the  infernal  spirit  displayed  at  the  Mountain 
Meadows  massacre. 

99 


The  following  extracts  are  from  sermons  published  offi- 
cially in  the  Journal  of  Discourses  from  time  to  time,  that 
were  delivered  before  the  perpetration  of  the  Mountain 
Meadows  Massacre,  and  are  referred  to  as  follows : 

(Brigham  Young  in  Vol.  Ill,  page  247).  "A  few  of  the 
men  and  women  who  go  into  the  House  of  the  Lord  and  re- 
ceive their  endowments,  and  in  the  most  sacred  manner  make 
covenants  before  the  Almighty,  go  and  violate  those  covenants, 
You  say,  'that  man  ought  to  die  for  transgressing  the  law  of 
God'.  Suppose  you  found  your  brother  in  bed  with  your  wife 
and  put  a  javelin  into  both  of  them?  You  would  be  justified, 
and  they  would  atone  for  their  sins  and  be  received  into  the 
Kingdom  of  God.  I  would  at  once  do  so  in  such  a  case  and 
under  such  circumstances.  I  have  no  wife  whom  I  love  so 
well  that  I  would  not  put  a  javelin  through  her  heart,  and  I 
would  do  it  with  clean  hands;  but  you  who  trifle  with  your 
covenants,  be  careful,  lest  in  judging  you  will  be  judged.  There 
is  not  a  man  or  woman  who  violates  the  covenants  made  with 
their  God  who  will  not  be  required  to  pay  the  debt.  The 
blood  of  Christ  will  never  wipe  that  out.  Your  own  blood 
must  atone  for  it." 

(Idem,  Vol.  II,  page  255).  "At  the  present,  the  enemies  of 
all  righteousness  have  the  lead,  and  say,  'Now,  you  poor 
Mormons,  are  you  not  afraid  that  we  can  muster  our  thousands 
and  destroy  every  one  of  you?'  Go  to  hell,  say  I,  and  be 
damned,  for  you  will  go  there,  and  you  are  damned  already." 

(Ibid.,  page  311).  "It  was  asked  this  morning  how 
we  could  obtain  redress  for  wrongs.  I  will  tell  you  how  it 
could  be  done.  We  could  take  the  same  law  that  they  have 
taken — mobocracy — and  if  any  miserable  scoundrels  come 
here,  cut  their  throats."  (All  the  people  said,  "amen.") 

(Ibid.,  page  317).  "I  have  never  yet  talked  as  rough  in 
these  mountains  as  I  did  in  the  States  when  they  killed  Joseph. 
I  then  said  boldly  and  aloud,  'If  ever  a  man  should  lay  his 
hands  on  me  and  say,  on  account  of  my  religion,  "thou  art 
my  prisoner"  the  Lord  Almighty  helping  me,  I  would  send  that 
man  to  hell  across  lots.'  I  feel  so  now.  Let  mobocrats  keep 
their  hands  off  me  or  I  will  send  them  where  they  belong.  I 
am  always  prepared  for  such  an  emergency." 

(Brigham  in  Vol.  I,  page  83).  "Now  you  Gladdenites, 
keep  your  tongues  still,  lest  sudden  destruction  come  upon 
you!  I  will  tell  you  of  a  dream  that  I  had  last  night.  I 
dreamed  that  I  was  in  the  midst  of  a  people  who  were  dressed 
in  rags  and  tatters.  They  had  turbans  upon  their  heads,  and 
these  were  also  hanging  in  tatters.  The  rags  were  of  many 

100 


colors,  and  when  the  people  moved  they  were  all  in  motion. 
Their  object  in  this  appeared  to  be  to  attract  attention.  Said 
they  to  me,  'we  are  Mormons,  Brother  Brigham/  'No,  you  are 
not/  I  replied.  'We  have  been,'  said  they.  And  they  began 
to  jump  and  caper  about  and  dance,  and  their  rags  of  many 
colors  were  all  in  motion  to  attract  the  attention  of  the  people. 
I  said,  'You  are  not  Saints — you  are  a  disgrace  to  them/  Said 
they,  'We  have  been  Mormons.'  By  and  by  came  along  some 
mobocrats,  and  they  greeted  them  with,  'how  do  you  do,  sir; 
I  am  very  happy  to  see  you.'  They  kept  on  that  way  for  an 
hour.  I  felt  ashamed  of  them,  for  they  were  in  my  eyes  a  dis- 
grace to  Mormonism.  Then  I  saw  two  ruffians  whom  I  knew 
to  be  mobbers  and  murderers,  and  they  crept  into  a  bed  where 
one  of  my  wives  and  children  were.  I  said,  'you,  that  call 
yourselves  brethren,  tell  me:  Is  this  the  fashion  among  you?' 
They  said,  Oh !  they  are  good  men,  they  are  gentlemen.  With 
that,  I  took  my  large  bowie  knife  that  I  used  to  wear  as  a 
bosom  pin,  and  cut  one  of  their  throats  from  ear  to  ear,  saying, 
'Go  to  hell  across  lots/  The  other  one  said,  'You  dare  not 
serve  me  so/  I  instantly  sprang  at  him,  seized  him  by  the 
hair  of  the  head,  and,  bringing  him  down,  cut  his  throat  and 
sent  him  after  his  comrade,  and  told  them  both  if  they  would 
behave  themselves  they  should  yet  live,  but  if  they  did  not,  I 
would  unjoint  their  necks.  At  this  I  awoke.  I  say,  rather 
than  an  apostate  should  flourish  here,  I  will  unsheath  my 
bowie  knife  and  conquer  or  die !  [Great  commotion  in  the 
congregation,  and  a  simultaneous  burst  of  feeling  assenting  to 
the  declaration.]  Now,  you  nasty  apostates,  clear  out,  or 
judgment  will  be  put  to  the  line,  and  righteousness  to  the 
plummet  *  *  * 

(Idem,  Vol.  Ill,  page  247).  "There  is  no  man  or  woman 
who  violates  the  covenants  made  with  their  God  that  will  not 
be  required  to  pay  the  debt.  The  blood  of  Christ  will  never 
wipe  that  out.  Your  blood  must  atone  for  it,  and  the  judg- 
ment of  the  Almighty  will  come  sooner  or  later,  and  every  man 
and  woman  will  have  to  atone  for  breaking  their  covenants." 

(Idem,  Vol.  V,  page  78).  "But  woe,  woe,  to  that  man 
who  comes  here  to  unlawfully  interfere  with  my  affairs.  Woe. 
woe,  to  those  men  who  come  here  to  unlawfully  interfere  and 
meddle  with  me  and  this  people.  I  swore  in  Nauvoo,  when 
my  enemies  were  looking  me  in  the  face,  that  I  would  send 
them  to  hell  across  lots  if  they  meddled  with  me,  and  I  asked 
no  odds  of  all  hell  today." 

(Idem,  Vol.  Ill,  page  226).  "The  time  is  coming  when 
justice  will  be  laid  to  the  line  and  righteousness  to  the  plum- 
met— when  we  shall  take  the  old  broadsword  and  ask,  'Are 

101 


you  for  God?'    and  if  you  are  not  heartily  on  the  Lord's  side, 
you  shall  be  hewn  down." 

(Idem,  Vol.  V,  page  6).  "If  men  come  here  and  do  not 
behave  themselves,  they  will  not  only  find  the  Saints  whom 
they  talked  so  much  about  biting  their  horses'  heels,  but  the 
scoundrels  will  find  something  biting  their  heels.  I  wish  such 
characters  would  let  the  boys  have  a  chance  to  lay  their  hands 
on  them.  In  my  plain  remarks  I  merely  call  things  by  their 
right  names." 

(Idem,  Vol.  Ill,  page  50).  "We  are  yet  obliged  to  have 
devils  in  our  community.  We  could  not  build  up  the  King- 
dom without  them.  Many  of  you  know  that  you  can  not  get 
your  endowments  without  the  devil  being  present.  Indeed,  we 
cannot  make  rapid  progress  without  the  devils.  I  know  that 
it  frightens  the  righteous  sectarian  to  think  that  we  have  so 
many  devils  with  us — so  many  miserable,  poor  curses.  Bless 
your  souls,  we  could  not  prosper  in  the  Kingdom  of  God  with- 
out them.  We  must  have  those  among  us  who  will  steal  our 
fence-poles,  who  go  and  steal  hay  from  their  neighbor's  hay- 
stack, or  go  into  his  cornfield  and  steal  corn  and  leave  the 
fence  down.  Nearly  every  ax  that  is  dropped  in  the  canyon 
must  be  picked  up  by  them,  and  the  scores  of  lost  watches, 
gold  rings,  breast  pins,  etc.,  must  get  into  their  hands,  though 
they  will  not  wear  them  in  your  sight.  It  is  essentially  neces- 
sary to  have  such  characters  here.  Live  here,  then,  you  poor, 
miserable  curses,  until  the  time  of  retribution,  when  your  heads 
will  have  to  be  severed  from  your  bodies.  Just  let  the 
Almighty  say,  'lay  judgment  to  the  line  and  righteousness  to 
the  plummet,'  and  the  time  of  thieves  is  short  in  the  commun- 
ity. What  do  you  suppose  they  would  say  in  old  Massachu- 
setts should  they  hear  that  the  Latter-day  Saints  had  received 
a  revelation  or  commandment  to  lay  judgment  to  the  line  and 
righteousness  to  the  plummet?  What  would  they  say  in  old 
Connecticut?  They  would  raise  a  universal  howl  of  'How 
wicked  those  Mormons  are.  They  are  killing  the  evil-doers 
who  are  among  them.'  What  do  I  care  for  the  wrath 
of  man,  more  than  I  do  for  the  chickens  that  run  in  my 
dooryard  ?  I  am  here  to  t  each  the  ways  of  the  Lord, 
and  lead  men  to  life  everlasting,  but  if  they  have  not  a 
mind  to  go  there,  I  wish  them  to  keep  out  of  my  path.  I  want 
the  Elders  of  Israel  to  understand  that  if  they  are  exposed  in 
their  stealing,  lying,  deceiving  wickedness  and  covetousness 
which  is  idolatry,  they  must  not  fly  in  a  passion  about  it,  for  we 
calculate  to  expose  you  from  time  to  time  as  we  please,  when  we 
can  get  time  to  notice  you." 

(Heber  Kimball  in  Vol.  IV,  page  357).  "I  have  no  doubt 
there  will  be  hundreds  who  will  leave  us,  and  go  away  to  our 

102 


enemies.  I  wish  they  would  this  fall ;  it  might  save  us  much 
trouble ;  and  if  men  turn  traitors  to  God  and  His  servants,  their 
blood  will  surely  be  spilled,  or  else  they  will  be  damned,  and 
that,  too,  according  to  their  covenants." 

(Orson  Hyde  in  Vol.  I,  pages  71-72.)  "I  will  suppose  a  case : 
That  there  is  a  large  flock  of  sheep  on  the  prairie,  and  here  are 
shepherds,  also,  who  watch  over  them  with  care.  It  is  generally 
the  case  that  the  shepherds  are  provided  with  most  excellent  dogs 
that  understand  their  business.  *  *  *  Suppose  the  shepherd 
should  discover  a  wolf  approaching  the  flock,  what  would  he 
likely  do?  Why,  we  should  suppose  that  if  the  wolf  was  in 
proper  distance,  that  he  would  kill  him  at  once.  In  short,  he 
would  shoot  him  down — kill  him  on  the  spot.  If  the  wolf  was  not 
within  shot,  we  would  naturally  suppose  he  would  set  the  dogs2 
on  him — and  you  are  aware,  I  have  no  doubt,  that  these  shepherd 
dogs  have  very  pointed  teeth  and  are  very  active.  It  is  some 
times  the  case  the  shepherd,  perhaps,  has  not  with  him  the  neces- 
sary arms  to  destroy  the  wolf,  but  in  such  a  case,  he  would  set  the 
faithful  dogs  on  it,  and  by  that  means  accomplish  its  destruction. 
*  *  *  Now,  was  Jesus  Christ  the  good  shepherd  ?  Yes ;  what 
the  faithful  shepherd  is  to  the  sheep,  so  is  the  Savior  to  his  fol- 
lowers. He  has  gone,  and  left  on  the  earth  other  shepherds  who 
stand  in  the  place  of  Jesus  Christ  to  take  care  of  the  flock.  If 
you  say  the  priesthood  or  authorities  of  the  Church  are  the  shep- 
herds, and  the  church  is  the  flock,  you  can  make  your  own  appli- 
cation of  this  figure.  It  is  not  at  all  necessary  for  me  to  do  it." 

(Heber  Kimball  in  Vol.  I,  page  160).  "I  have  to  do  the 
work  he  [Brigham]  tells  me  to  do,  and  you  have  to  do  the  same, 
and  he  has  to  do  the  work  told  him  by  the  Great  Master." 

(Heber  Kimball  was  in  charge  of  the  Tithing  House  when 
this  sermon  was  delivered — Vol.  V,  page  135).  "If  you  want  a 
pound  of  coffee  or  tea,  or  a  pair  of  shoes,  it  is  'Come,  Brother 
Heber,  go  quick  and  get  me  what  I  want.  If  you  don't,  I  will  go 
and  tell  Brother  Brigham.'  Brother  Brigham !  go  and  be  damned. 
I  wish  such  characters  were  in  hell,  where  they  belong.  [Voice, 
'they  are  there'].  I  know  it,  and  it  is  that  which  makes  them 
wiggle  so,  the  poor,  miserable  devils.  They  would  make  Our 
Father  and  God  a  drudge — make  Him  do  their  dirty  work — kill 
those  poor  devils  and  every  poor  rotten  hearted  curse  in  our 
midst.  With  them  it  is,  'Lord,  kill  them — kill  them,  damn  them 
—kill  them,  Lord.'  We  intend  to  kill  the  poor  cusses  ourselves." 

From  a  sermon  delivered  by  Brigham  Young  in  1855  and 
published  in  the  Deseret  News : 


2Mr.  Hyde's  allegory  in  fable  form  can  be  well  read  between  the  lines.     "Set  the 
dogs,"  it  is  evident,  meant  the  Danites,  or  "church  police,"  as  they  termed  themselves. 

103 


"Have  not  this  people  of  God  a  right  to  baptize  a  sinner, 
to  save  him  when  he  commits  those  crimes  that  can 
only  be  atoned  for  by  shedding  his  blood?  We  would 
not  kill  a  man,  of  course,  unless  we  killed  him  to  save  him. 
Do  you  think  it  would  be  anyx  sin  to  kill  me  if  I  were  to  break  my 
covenants?  Would  you  kill  me  if  I  break  the  covenants  of  God, 
and  you  had  the  spirit  of  God?  Yes ;  and  the  more  spirit  of  God 
I  had,  the  more  I  should  strive  to  save  your  souls  by  spilling  your 
blood  when  you  had  committed  sin  that  could  not  be  remitted  by 
baptism." 

*  jfc  ******,**  *  * 

I  quote  further  from  the  opinion  of  Judge  Anderson  in  the 
naturalization  matter  before  referred  to,  as  follows : 

"The  evidence  also  shows  that  blood  atonement  is  one  of 
the  doctrines  of  the  church  under  which,  for  certain  offenses. 
the  offender  shall  suffer  death  as  the  only  means  of  atoning  for 
this  transgression,  and  that  any  member  of  the  church  has  a  right 
to  shed  his  blood.  In  a  discourse  delivered  September  21,  1856 
Brigham  Young  said : 

'There  are  sins  which  men  commit  for  which  they  cannot 
receive  forgiveness  in  this  world  or  in  the  world  to  come;  and 
if  they  had  their  eyes  open  to  their  true  condition  they  would  be 
perfectly  willing  to  have  their  blood  spilled  upon  the  ground, 
that  the  smoke  thereof  might  ascend  to  heaven  as  an  offering  for 
their  sins;  whereas,  if  such  is  not  the  case  they  will  stick  to  them 
and  remain  upon  them  in  the  spirit  world.  I  know  when  you 
hear  my  brethren  telling  about  cutting  people  off  from  the  earth 
you  consider  it  strong  doctrine ;  but  it  is  to  save  them.  It  is  true 
that  the  blood  of  the  Son  of  God  was  shed  for  sin  through  the 
fall,  and  those  committed  by  men,  yet  men  commit  sins  which  it 
[the  blood]  never  can  remit.  As  it  was  in  ancient  days,  so  it  is  in 
our  day,  and  though  the  principles  are  taught  publicly  from  this 
stand,  still  the  people  do  not  understand  them,  that  the  law  is  pre- 
cisely the  same.  There  are  sins  that  can  be  atoned  for  by  an  of- 
fering upon  an  altar  as  in  ancient  days,  and  there  are  sins  that 
the  blood  of  a  lamb,  or  of  a  calf,  or  of  turtle  doves,  cannot  remit; 
but  they  must  be  atoned  for  by  the  blood  of  the  man.  That  is 
the  reason  why  men  talk  to  you  as  they  do  from  this  stand. 
They  understand  the  doctrine,  and  throw  out  a  few  words 
about  it.  You  have  been  taught  that  doctrine,  but  you  did  not 
understand  it.' 

"And  again  on  the  eighth  day  of  February,  1857,  in  a  dis- 
course in  the  tabernacle,  President  Young  used  the  following  lan- 
guage (Deseret  News,  Vol.  VI,  page  397)  : 

'  'But  now  I  say,  in  the  name  of  the  Lord,  that  if  this 
people  will  sin  no  more,  but  faithfully  live  their  religion,  their 
sins  will  be  forgiven  them  without  taking  life.  You  are  aware 

104 


that  when  Brother  [Governor]  Cummings  came  to  the  point  of 
loving  our  neighbors,  he  could  Yes  or  No  as  the  case  might  be. 
That  is  true,  but  I  want  to  connect  it  with  the  doctrine  you  have 
heard  in  the  bible.  When  will  we  love  our  neighbors  as  our- 
selves ?  In  the  first  place,  Jesus  said  that  no  man  hateth  his  own 
flesh.  It  is  admitted  by  all,  every  person  loves  himself.  Now  if 
we  do  rightly  love  ourselves,  we  want  to  be  saved  and  continue 
to  exist;  we  want  to  go  into  the  Kingdom  where  we  can  enjoy 
eternity,  and  see  no  more  sorrow  and  death.  This  is  the  desire 
of  every  person  believing  in  God.  Now,  take  a  person  in  this 
congregation  who  has  knowledge  of  being  saved  in  the  Kingdom 
of  God  and  Our  Father ;  and  being  an  exalted  one,  who  knows 
and  understands  the  principle  of  eternal  life,  and  sees  the  beauty 
and  excellency  of  the  eternity  when  compared  with  the  vain  and 
foolish  things  of  the  world,  and  suppose  he  is  overtaken  in  a  gross 
fault  and  has  committed  a  sin  which  he  knows  will  deprive  him 
of  that  exaltation  which  he  desires  and  that  he  cannot  attain  to 
it  without  the  shedding  of  his  blood,  and  knows  that  by  having 
his  blood  shed  he  will  atone  for  that  sin  and  be  saved  and  exalted 
with  the  Gods — Is  there  a  man  or  a  woman  in  this  house  that 
would  not  say  "shed  my  blood  that  I  may  be  saved  and  exalted 
with  the  Gods?"  All  mankind  love  themselves,  and  let  this  prin- 
ciple be  known  by  an  individual  and  he  would  be  glad  to  have 
his  blood  shed.  That  would  be  loving  themselves  until  eternal 
exaltation.  Will  you  love  your  brothers  and  sisters  likewise 
when  they  have  committed  a  sin  that  cannot  be  atoned  for  with- 
out the  shedding  of  their  blood?  Will  you  love  that  man  or 
woman  well  enough  to  shed  their  blood?  That  is  what  Jesus 
meant.  He  never  told  a  man  or  a  woman  to  love  their  enemies 
in  their  wickedness.  He  never  intended  such  a  thing.  I  could 
refer  you  to  plenty  of  instances  where  men  have  been  right- 
eously slain  in  order  to  atone  for  their  sins.  I  have  seen  scores 
and  hundreds  of  people  for  whom  there  would  have  been  a 
chance  in  the  last  resurrection  if  their  lives  had  been  taken,  and 
their  blood  spilt  upon  the  ground  as  a  smoking  incense  to  the 
Almighty,  but  who  are  now  angels  to  the  devil  until  our  elder 
Brother,  Jesus  Christ  raises  them  up  to  conquer  death,  hell,  and 
the  grave.  I  have  known  a  great  many  men  who  have  left  the 
church  for  whom  there  is  no  chance  whatever  of  exaltation,  but 
if  their  blood  had  been  spilled  it  would  have  been  better  for 
them.  The  wickedness  and  ignorance  of  the  nation  forbid  this 
principle  being  in  full  force.  But  the  time  will  come  when  the 
law  of  God  will  be  in  full  force.  This  is  loving  our  neighbor  as 
ourselves.  If  he  needs  help,  help  him ;  and  if  he  needs  salva- 
tion, and  it  is  necessary  to  spill  his  blood  upon  the  ground  in 
order  that  he  may  be  saved,  spill  it.  And  if  any  of  you,  who 
understand  the  principles  of  eternity,  if  you  have  committed 
sins  requiring  the  shedding  of  blood,  except  the  sin  unto  death, 
you  should  not  be  satisfied  nor  rest  until  your  blood  should  be 

105 


spilt,  that  you  might  gain  the  salvation  you  desire.  That  is 
the  way  to  love  mankind.  Now  brethren  and  sisters,  will  you 
live  your  religion?  How  many  hundreds  of  times  have  I  asked 
that  question — Will  the  Latter-day  Saints  live  their  religion?'  " 

"President  Jedediah  M.  Grant,  in  a  discourse  March  12,  1854, 
on  the  subject  that  he  calls  Covenant  Breakers — that  is,  those  who 
leave  the  Mormon  church — used  the  following  language : 

'  'Then  what  ought  this  meek  people,  who  keep  the  com- 
mandments of  God,  do  unto  them.  "Nay,"  says  one,  "they  ought 
to  pray  to  the  Lord  to  kill  them."  I  want  to  know  if  you  wish  the 
Lord  to  come  down  and  do  all  your  dirty  work?  Many  of  the 
Latter-day  Saints  will  pray,  and  petition,  and  supplicate  the  Lord 
to  do  a  thousand  things  that  they  themselves  would  be  ashamed  to 
do.  When  a  man  prays  for  a  thing,  he  ought  to  be  willing  to 
perform  it  himself;  but  if  the  Latter-day  Saints  should  put  to 
death  the  covenant-breakers,  it  would  try  the  faith  of  the  very 
meek,  just  and  pious  ones  among  them;  it  would  cause  a  great 
deal  of  whining  in  Israel.  Then  there  was  another  old  com- 
mandment. The  Lord  commanded  them  not  to  pity  the  persons 
whom  they  kill,  but  to  execute  the  law  of  God  upon  persons 
worthy  of  death.  This  should  be  done  by  the  entire  congregation, 
showing  no  pity.  I  have  thought  there  would 'have  to  be  quite  a 
revolution  among  the  Mormons  before  such  a  commandment 
could  be  obeyed  completely  by  them.  The  Mormons  have  a 
great  deal  of  sympathy.  For  instance,  if  they  get  a  man  before 
a  tribunal  administering  the  law  of  the  land,  and  succeed  in  get- 
ting a  rope  around  his  neck,  and  having  him  done  up  like  a  dead 
dog,  it  is  all  right ;  but  if  the  church  and  Kingdom  of  God  should 
step  forth  and  execute  the  law  of  God,  oh,  what  a  burst  of  Mor- 
mon sympathy  it  would  cause!  I  wish  we  were  in  a  situation 
favorable  to  our  doing  that  which  is  justifiable  before 
God  without  any  contaminating  influence  of  Gentile 
amalgamation,  laws  and  traditions,  that  the  prophet  of  the 
people  of  God  might  lay  the  axe  at  the  root  of  the  tree  and  every 
tree  that  bringeth  not  forth  good  fruit  might  be  hewn  down.  What ! 
do  you  think  the  people  would  do  right  and  keep  the  law  of  God 
by  actually  putting  to  death  the  transgressor?  Putting  to  death 
the  covenant-breakers  would  exhibit  the  law  of  God,  no  matter 
by  whom  it  was  done — that  is  my  opinion.  You  talk  of  the  do- 
ings of  the  different  governments,  the  United  States,  if  you 
please,  what  do  they  do  with  traitors — what  mode  do  they  adopt 
to  punish  them?  Do  traitors  to  the  government  forfeit  their 
lives?  Examine  also  the  doings  of  other  earthly  governments  on 
this  point,  and  you  will  find  the  same  practice  universal.  I  am 
not  aware  that  there  are  any  exceptions,  but  people  will  look  into 
the  books  of  theology  and  argue  that  the  people  of  God  have  a 
right  to  try  people  for  fellowship,  but  they  have  no  right  to  try 
them  on  property  or  life.  That  makes  the  devil  laugh,  saying, 

106 


"I  have  got  them  on  the  hook  now.  They  can  cut  them  off  and 
I  will  put  eight  or  ten  spirits  worse  than  they,  are  into  their 
tabernacles  and  send  them  back  to  mob  them." 

"In  September,  1857,  Brigham  Young,  in  an  address  delivered 
in  this  city  and  found  in  Vol.  V,  Journal  of  Discourses,  used  the 
following  language : 

«  <*  *  *  There  is  high  treason  in  Washington,  and  if  the 
law  was  carried  out,  it  would  hang  up  many  of  them,  and  the  very 
act  of  James  K.  Polk,  in  having  five  hundred  of  our  men3  while 
we  were  making  our  way  out  of  the  country,  under  an  agreement 
forced  upon  us,  would  have  hung  him  between  the  heavens  and 
the  earth  if  the  laws  had  been  faithfully  carried  out.  And  now, 
if  they  can  send  a  force4  against  this  people,  we  have  every  con- 
stitutional and  legal  right  to  send  them  to  hell,  and  we  calculate 
to  send  them  there  *  *  *  Our  enemies  had  better  count  the 
cost,  for  if  they  continue  the  job  they  will  want  to  let  it  out  to 
subcontractors  before  they  get  half  through  with  it.  If  they  per- 
sist in  sending  troops  here,  I  want  the  people  of  the  West  and 
the  East  to  understand  that  it  will  not  be  safe  for  them  to  cross 
the  plains.' 

"An  effort  was  made  to  show  that  blood  atonement,  as 
preached  by  Brigham  Young  and  Jedediah  Grant,  is  not  now  the 
doctrine  of  the  church,  and  a  pamphlet  containing  an  address  on 
this  subject  by  Elder  Charles  W.  Penrose*  in  October,  1884, 
was  offered  in  evidence ;  but  in  this  pamphlet  Mr.  Penrose  sus- 
tains the  doctrine  of  blood  atonement  as  preached  by  Brigham 
Young  and  President  Grant :  *  *  * 

(Page  18).  "'Now,  according  to  the  doctrine  of  President 
Brigham  Young,  the  blood  of  Jesus  Christ,  as  I  have  shown  you, 
atoned  for  the  original  sin,  and  for  sins  that  men  commit,  and  yet 
there  are  sins  which  men  commit  for  which  they  cannot  receive 
any  benefit  through  the  shedding  of  Christ's  blood.  Is  that  a 
true  doctrine?  It  is  true,  if  the  bible  is  true.  That  is  bible  doc- 
trine.' 

(Page  36).  "  'Now,  Brother  Jedediah  M.  Grant  and  Brigham 
Young,  because  of  the  transgression  of  the  people,  spoke  as  I  have 
quoted.  This  was  the  time  of  the  reformation,  and  the  fears  of 
evil-doers  was  worked  upon  to  induce  reform,  and  hence  the 
strong  language  used  at  that  time.  Do  we  need  the  same  lan- 
guage now  ?  I  hope  not ;  but  if  there  was  any  need  of  it,  it  would 
be  just  as  applicable  now  as  then.' 

(Page  43).  "'These  are  some  of  the  ideas  entertained  by 
the  Latter-day  Saints  on  the  subject  of  blood  atonement.  After 
baptized  persons  have  made  sacred  covenants  with  God  and  then 

3See  Chapter  XVII,  referring  to  Mormon  Battalion. 

4The  advance  of  General  Albert  Sidney  Johnston's  army. 

*At  present  Penrose  is  one  of  the  First  Presidency  of  the  Mormon  Church. 

107 


committed  deadly  sins,  the  only  atonement  they  can  make  is  the 
shedding  of  their  blood.  At  the  same  time,  because  of  the  laws  of 
the  land  and  the  prejudice  of  the  nation  and  the  ignorance  of  the 
world,  this  law  cannot  be  carried  out;  but  when  the  time  comes 
that  the  law  of  God  should  be  in  full  force  upon  the  earth,  then 
this  penalty  will  be  inflicted  for  those  crimes  committed  by  persons 
under  covenant  not  to  commit  them.'  " 

"Whether  such  language  as  the  above  instigated  the  Moun- 
tain Meadows  massacre,  or  whether  that  horrible  butchery  was 
done  by  direct  command  of  Brigham  Young,  will  probably  never 
be  known,  but  it  is  a  part  of  the  history  of  the  Territory,  that 
about  that  time  a  party  of  peaceful  emigrants  who  were 
passing  through  Utah  on  their  way  to  California,  consisting  of 
about  one  hundred  and  thirty  men,  women  and  children,  were 
mercilessly  butchered  by  men  under  the  command  of  John  D.  Lee 
and  Capt.  Wm.  H.  Dame,  both  Mormons  in  high  standing." 

*  j}:*********  # 

Soon  after  the  assassination  of  Dr.  Robinson,  an  inquest  was 
held  at  which  ex-Governor  John  B.  Weller  made  in  substance 
the  following  apt  remarks  to  the  jury: 

"*  *  *  The  founder  of  the  Christian  religion  preached 
good  will  amongst  men,  instead  of  calling  into  action  the  worst 
passions  of  the  human  breast.  'Blessed/  said  He,  'are  the  peace- 
makers.' Did  He  not  teach  obedience  to  the  law  and  respect  to 
the  powers  that  be  ?  Did  He  not  say  'thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbor 
as  thyself.'  Did  He  not  say  'love  your  enemies  and  pray  for  those 
who  despitefully  treat  and  persecute  you?'  Why — when  sur- 
rounded by  His  enemies  and  nailed  to  the  cross — He  extended  His 
eyes  towards  Heaven,  and  with  His  dying  breath  exclaimed 
'Father  forgive  them;  they  know  not  what  they  do!'  How  in- 
consistent are  these  sentiments,  promulgated  by  our  illustrious 
Savior,  with  the  doctrines  taught  by  the  modern  prophet  in  the 
tabernacle." 

It  was  shown  by  the  evidence  at  the  first  trial  of  Lee  that 
the  emigrants  after  leaving  Salt  Lake  City  on  their  journey 
south  encountered  unfriendly  neighborhoods,  and  the  inhabitants 
who  were  Mormons  refused  to  sell  them  anything.  Robert 
Kershaw,  a  very  intelligent  witness,  at  the  first  trial  of  Lee, 
testified  that  he  was  living  in  Beaver  City  and  saw  the  emigrants 
pass  through;  that  previously  George  A.  Smith  had  arrived 
and  preached  in  the  public  square.  He  said  the  emigrants  were 
coming,  and  forbade  the  people  selling  them  anything  under  the 
penalty  of  being  disfellowshiped ;  that  John  Morgan  traded  a 
small  cheese  for  a  bedquilt  and  was  cut  off  from  the  church.  In 
his  own  words,  he  said : 

108 


GEORGE  A.  SMITH. 


"The  emigrants  camped  in  front  of  my  house.  I  had  a  good 
garden,  and  they  wanted  to  buy  vegetables.  I  refused  to  trade 
with  them.  Samuel  Dodge,  a  policeman,  stood  by  the  train,  and 
intimidated  people  from  trading  with  the  emigrants." 

Having  learned  that  Mrs.  Julia  F.  Thompson,  who 
came  to  Utah  soon  after  the  first  settlement  was  made,  had 
heard  Smith  preach  at  Beaver  City  against  the  approaching 
emigrants,  and  knowing  that  she  was  a  lady  of  ability,  high 
standing,  and  of  undoubted  veracity,  I  called  at  her  home 
in  Salt  Lake  City  on  December  14,  1912,  where  she  made 
to  me  the  statement  following: 

"At  the  time  of  the  massacre  of  the  Arkansas  emigrants 
I  resided  in  Beaver  City.  A  short  time  before  they  reached 
there,  George  A.  Smith,  on  a  Sunday,  preached  a  sermon  at 
which  I  was  present.  He  informed  the  people  that  the  emi- 
grants were  coming,  and  forbade  selling  anything  to  them. 
Afterwards  it  was  common  talk  among  the  neighbors  that  they 
had  been  forbidden  by  the  church  authorities  to  deal  with 
the  emigrants.  After  they  arrived  in  Beaver  and  camped 
near  there,  Mrs.  Morgan,  who  did  the  washing  for  our  family, 
knowing  that  I  had  been  making  cheese,  came  and  asked 
me  for  one.  I  said,  'You  want  to  sell  it  to  the  emigrants?' 
She  said,  'Yes;  I  can  sell  it  to  them  for  a  coverlet,  and  will 
do  it  because  when  my  husband  goes  into  the  canyon  he 
takes  one  of  mine,  and  I  sleep  cold.'  I  told  her  that  there 
were  spies  around,  and  if  she  did  it  she  would  be  disfellow- 
shiped, as  orders  had  been  given  that  anyone  who  sold  the 
emigrants  anything  would  be  disfellowshiped.  I  gave  her 
one  cheese  and  told  her  she  might  have  two  if  she  wanted 
them.  She  sold  the  one  I  gave  her  to  the  emigrants.  Shortly 
afterward  I  went  to  church  one  Sunday,  and  both  Mrs.  Morgan 
and  her  husband  were  disfellowshiped  because  she  sold  that 
cheese  to  the  emigrants.  The  motion  for  their  disfellowship 
was  submitted  to  the  vote  of  the  congregation,  and  all  hands 
went  up  in  favor  of  the  motion  except  mine.  I  did  not  vote. 
Afterward,  at  another  church  meeting  I  attended,  Mrs.  Mor- 
gan and  her  husband  expressed  their  sorrow  for  disobeying 
the  counsel  not  to  trade  with  the  emigrants,  and  were  restored 
to  fellowship." 

Mrs.  Thompson  further  stated  that  one  or  two  years  be- 
fore the  massacre  she  heard  Col.  W.  H.  Dame  preach  a  sermon 
in  Parowan,  in  which  he  said:  "If  you  wives  and  sisters  in 
passing  by,  see  the  head  of  a  husband  or  brother  upon  the 
street,  you  must  not  ask  any  reasons.  It  is  none  of  your 
business." 


109 


Lee  in  his  confession  stated  that :  "Inasmuch  as  this  lot 
(the  emigrants)  had  men  among  them  that  helped  kill  the 
prophet  in  the  Carthage  jail,  the  killing  of  them  would  be 
keeping  our  oaths  and  avenging  the  blood  of  the  prophets." 
He  further  stated  that  in  a  conversation  he  had  with  President 
Haight  respecting  Brother  Dan  McFarland,  after  the  massacre, 
he  (Haight)  said,  "Dan  will  make  a  great  warrior."  "Why 
do  you  think  so?"  Lee  asked.  "Well,  Dan  came  to  me  and 
said,  'You  must  get  me  another  knife,  because  the  one  I  have 
has  no  good  stuff  in  it,  for  the  edge  turned  when  I  cut  a 
fellow's  throat  at  the  Meadows.  I  caught  one  of  the  devils 
that  was  trying  to  get  away,  and  when  I  cut  his  throat,  it 
took  all  of  the  edge  off  of  my  knife.'  I  tell  you,  that  boy 
will  make  a  warrior." 

A  number  of  the  victims  of  the  massacre  had  their  throats 
cut,  just  in  the  same  way  as  Isaac  Potter,  one  of  the  victims  of 
the  Coalville  murderers,  (page  10)  who  had  his  throat  cut 
from  ear  to  ear,  after  he  had  been  instantly  killed  and  was 
lying  prostrate  upon  the  ground  from  the  discharge  of  a 
shotgun  in  his  back  at  close  range.  Other  similar  cases  have 
been  stated  to  me,  and  were  given  in  the  testimony  at  the 
trials  of  John  D.  Lee. 

There  is  no  doubt  in  my  mind  that  all  such  cases  were 
inspired  by  the  throat-cutting  sermons  and  oath-bound  cove- 
nants of  the  Mormon  church.  The  blood-thirsty  spirit  re- 
vealed by  these  sermons  conclusively  shows  that  their  authors 
had  vengeful  and  malignant  hearts.  To  call  an  organization 
in  which  such  sermons  were  tolerated,  and  afterwards  repro- 
duced and  perpetuated  in  its  official  publications,  the  "Church 
of  Jesus  Christ  of  Latter-day  Saints,"  is  a  disgraceful  profana- 
tion of  the  sacred  name  of  Jesus  Christ.  These  disgusting 
sermons  of  Brigham  Young  not  only  emphasize  the  absurdity 
of  his  assumption  of  divine  agency,  but  resemble  the  ravings 
of  a  vicious  lunatic,  and  are  such  as  no  Christian  would 
deliver. 

Klingensmith  testified  that  Bishop-Major  John  M.  Higbee 
cut  one  man's  throat;  that  women  were  lying  around  with 
their  throats  cut,  and  some  with  their  heads  smashed  in ;  that 
he  branded  some  of  the  cattle — about  fifty  head — with  a  cross, 
which  was  the  church  brand ;  that  he  attended  a  Conference 
held  in  Salt  Lake  City  on  October  5,  1857,  where  he  met  Lee, 
who  told  him  that  he  had  told  Brigham  Young  everything  that 

110 


had  transpired  at  the  Mountain  Meadows  massacre ;  that  the 
next  day  Lee,  Charley  Hopkins  and  himself  met  in  President 
Young's  office ;  that  the  president  received  them  well,  took 
them  to  his  barn  and  showed  them  his  horses,  carriages  and 
other  fine  things.  He  told  the  witness,  who  had  control  of 
the  property,  to  turn  it  over  to  Lee,  as  he  was  Indian  agent 
anyway,  and  the  disposal  of  the  property  belonged  to  him ; 
that  Brigham  Young  then  turned  to  the  witness  and  said : 
"What  you  know  about  this  affair,  do  not  tell  to  anyone; 
do  not  talk  about  it  among  yourselves." 

On  cross-examination,  this  witness  further  testified  that 
his  first  knowledge  of  the  emigrants  was  that  they 
had  been  ordered  away  from  Salt  Lake  City  and  were  coming 
down  through  the  settlements ;  that  he  heard  from  President 
Haight  that  the  people  were  forbidden  to  trade  with  them ; 
that  in  council  meeting  in  Cedar  City  he  said  the  emigrants 
were  coming  down,  and  that  they  must  be  destroyed ;  that 
before  the  emigrants  arrived,  President  Haight  preached 
against  trading  with  them ;  that  when  the  order  was  given 
at  the  time  the  emigrants  marched  out  of  their  corral  he 
shot  at  the  man  by  whose  side  he  was  marching;  that  witness 
was  cut  off  from  the  church  four  or  five  years  ago,  and  resigned 
his  bishopric  in  1868  or  1869;  was  not  in  full  fellowship  there- 
after; that  President  Haight  told  him  that  he  sold  fifty  head 
of  the  cattle  to  Hooper;  that  witness  was  afraid  of  personal 
violence  if  he  should  offer  any  active  opposition ;  did  not 
consider  his  life  would  be  safe,  and  others  were  in  the  same 
position;  that  his  fear  grew  out  of  his  long  experience;  had 
seen  one  man  put  away,  and  had  heard  of  other  such  cases ; 
took  part  in  the  matter  through  personal  fear;  had  heard  of 
Mr.  Anderson  being  put  away,  and  also  three  others  who  had 
disobeyed  counsel. 

E.  W.  Thompson  testified  that  he  saw  the  emigrant  train 
pass  through  Beaver  City;  saw  men  and  women  in  the  com- 
pany; that  they  seemed  to  be  a  respectable  class  of  people. 
He  had  previously  heard  that  the  emigrants  were  coming.  At 
a  meeting  held  in  the  city,  the  bishop  read  a  letter  counseling 
the  people  not  to  trade  with  the  emigrants. 

Wm.  Roberts  testified  that  he  saw  the  emigrants  in  Red 
Creek  Bottoms;  that  there  was  quite  a  number  of  families  in 
the  train;  that  Colonel  Dame  preached  about  them  at  Paro- 
wan,  and  that  he  said,  "You  must  not  sell  them  any  provisions." 

Ill 


James  McGuffie,  one  of  the  witnesses  in  behalf  of  the 
objectors  in  the  naturalization  investigation  before  mentioned, 
testified  as  follows: 

Q.  Do  you  know  whether  or  not  after  the  massacre, 
John  D.  Lee  continued  to  be  on  terms  of  friendship  with 
Brigham  Young?  A.  Oh,  yes;  and  he  got  more  wives.  Had 
two  sealed  to  him  the  very  year  he  committed  that  atrocious 
murder.  I  was  as  well  acquainted  with  John  D.  Lee  as  I 
could  be  with  any  man. 

Mr.  Baskin :  Was  he  afterwards  a  member  of  the  legis- 
lature? A.  Yes,  sir;  and  Wm.  H.  Dame,  too. 

Mr.  Dickson:  What  I  want  to  get  at  is,  whether  you 
know,  of  your  own  knowledge,  that  after  the  massacre  John 
D.  Lee  continued  to  be  on  terms  of  friendship  with  the  presi- 
dent of  the  church?  A.  Oh,  yes,  and  got  two  more  women 
after  that.  Got  two  at  a  lick;  an  English  girl — she  died. 

Mr.  Baskin:  Now,  I  understood  you  to  say  that  you  took 
an  obligation  to  obey  the  priesthood  in  all  matters?  A.  Yes, 
in  all  things. 

Q.  Was  there  any  penalty  attached  to  your  disobedience 
to  the  priesthood  in  the  ordeal  through  which  you  passed? 
A.  There  was  nothing  farther  than  that  the  throat  was  to 
be  cut  and  the  belly  ripped  out.  I  think  that  is  plenty 
enough. 

Q.  Do  you  know  William  Laney?  A.  Yes,  I  knew  him 
well.  He  lived  about  five  rods  below  my  house  at  the  time 
of  the  Mountain  Meadows  massacre. 

Q.  Do  you  know  of  his  having  furnished  that  band  of 
emigrants  with  supplies?  A.  Yes;  Laney  recognized  in  the 
company  a  young  man  named  Harris  as  being  the  son  of 
a  man  that  had  been  a  great  friend  to  him,  and  treated  him 
kindly  when  he  was  on  a  Mormon  mission  in  Tennessee. 
Laney  invited  the  young  man  to  supper  at  his  house,  and 
invited  him  to  come  and  get  his  breakfast;  and  the  young 
man,  after  he  got  his  breakfast,  saw  the  onions  growing  in 
the  dooryard,  and  said  that  he  would  like  to  have  a  few  of 
them ;  and  Laney  said,  "Well,  take  all  you  want,  and  welcome," 
and  he  took  them;  and  then  Dame  sent  Barney  Carter,  one 
of  the  Destroying  Angels,  who  tore  a  picket  out  of  the  fence 
and  hit  Laney  side  of  the  head.  The  man  has  never  been 
sound  in  his  mind  since,  just  because  he  let  the  onions  go 
to  that  man.  It  was  Laney's  only  offense. 

Q.  What  position  did  Dame  hold  in  the  church  at  that 
time?  A.  He  was  the  colonel  in  the  armed  battalion,  and  was 
a  high  priest  of  the  Mormon  church  of  the  Parowan  Branch 
in  1857. 


112 


In  John  D.  Lee's  confession,  which  was  made  only  after 
it  was  certain  he  would  be  executed,  is  contained  in  substance 
the  same  statement  respecting  the  assault  upon  Laney  as 
that  made  by  McGuffie. 

William  Bradshaw  testified  that  after  the  emigrants 
passed,  Haight  preached  in  Cedar  City  at  a  Sunday  meeting, 
and  said  "Some  old  fool  had  been  tampering  with  the  Indians ; 
if  he  had  kept  aloof,  the  emigrants  would  have  been  dead  and 
in  their  graves  by  this  time.  Never  mind,"  he  added,  "they 
have  only  gone  farther  into  the  net."  He  had  also  forbade 
the  people  from  trading  with  the  emigrants  at  a  previous  meet- 
ing; after  the  massacre,  he  had  preached  in  a  meeting  that 
nothing  was  to  be  said  about  it. 

It  appears  from  the  testimony,  which  was  very  volumin- 
ous, that  a  large  portion  of  the  emigrants'  property  was  sold 
to  the  Mormons  in  Cedar  City  at  public  auction,  and  that 
as  the  people  in  that  vicinity  had  not  much  money,  most  of 
the  property  so  sold  was  paid  for  in  grain.  In  answer  to  the 
question,  "What  was  done  with  the  grain?"  asked  by  me 
of  a  number  of  the  witnesses  who  testified  to  that  fact,  they 
invariably  replied :  "It  was  put  in  the  tithing  house  granary." 

*  *  #  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  :|c  * 

In  1877  Geo.  Caesar  Bates  came  to  my  office  and  stated 
that  while  he  and  his  partner  had  appeared  and  participated 
in  the  defense  of  John  D.  Lee,  at  the  first  trial,  they  were 
employed  to  do  so  by  Brigham  Young,  "trustee  in  trust" 
of  the  Mormon  church;  that  he  contemplated  bringing  a  suit 
against  the  church  to  recover  for  the  services  so  performed, 
as  payment  of  a  large  portion  thereof  had  been  refused  by 
Brigham,  and  that  he  desired  me  and  my  partner,  Mr.  DeWolf, 
to  act  as  his  attorneys  in  the  case;  that  he  had  prepared  the 
complaint,  which  he  handed  me.  Upon  reading  it,  I  consented 
to  act  as  his  attorney,  and  instituted  a  suit.  The  following  is 
an  extract  from  the  complaint : 

"In  the  Third  District  Court  of  Utah  Territory:  Geo.  C. 
Bates,  Plaintiff,  vs.  The  Church  of  Jesus  Christ  of  Latter- 
day  Saints,  Defendant. 

"Plaintiff  alleges  that  on  the  17th  day  of  August,  1875, 
the  defendant  was  indebted  to  the  firm  of  Sutherland  & 
Bates,  attorneys  at  law,  in  the  sum  of  $5,000.00  for  work, 
labor,  care  and  diligence  of  the  firm,  performed  and  bestowed 

113 


by  them  as  attorneys,  of  and  for  the  defendants  at  its  instance 
and  request,  in  and  about  and  concerning  the  indictment,  de- 
fense and  trial  of  John  D.  Lee ;  and  for  fees  due,  and  of  right 
payable  to  said  firm  in  respect  thereof,  and  for  necessary 
money  spent  by  said  firm  in  and  about  said  work,  labor  and 
employment  for  defendant  at  its  instance  and  request;  that 
the  said  Sutherland  had  transferred  and  assigned  his  interest 
in  said  claim  to  the  plaintiff." 

The  church  had  been  incorporated  by  an  act  of  the  terri- 
torial legislature.  Williams  &  Young,  attorneys  of  the  church, 
interposed  a  demurrer  to  the  complaint  on  the  ground  that  the 
employment  of  Sutherland  &  Bates  to  defend  Lee  was  not 
within  the  scope  of  the  corporate  powers  granted  by  said  act. 
Upon  expressing  my  opinion  to  Mr.  Bates  that  the  demurrer 
would  be  sustained  by  the  court,  he  requested  me  to  prepare, 
if  that  should  occur,  a  complaint  based  upon  the  ground  that 
Brigham  Young,  by  assuming  to  act  in  the  matter  for  the 
church,  without  authority,  rendered  himself  liable.  The  de- 
murrer having  been  sustained,  I  drew  a  complaint,  as  re- 
quested, and  sought  Mr.  Bates  for  the  purpose  of  having  him 
verify  it,  but  instead  of  finding  him,  I  ascertained  that  he 
had  entered  into  a  written  marriage  contract  with  a  "doctor- 
ess,"  and  that  they  had  left  the  Territory. 

In  the  chapter  of  Bancroft's  History  of  Utah,  on  the  sub- 
ject of  the  Mountain  Meadows  massacre  trial,  page  565,  N. 
46,  it  is  stated  that  "Sutherland  &  Bates  were  the  attorneys 
of  the  first  presidency."  They  were  not  employed  by  Lee. 
After  the  evidence  of  the  prosecution  at  the  first  trial  was 
introduced,  as  it  implicated  both  Brigham  and  Geo.  A.  Smith, 
those  attorneys  protracted  the  trial  until  the  ex  parte  affi- 
davits of  Brigham  and  Smith,  hereinafter  mentioned,  arrived. 
They  then  offered  them  in  evidence,  but  upon  the  objection 
of  the  prosecution  they  were  rejected.  As  the  evidence  tended 
strongly  to  show  that  both  Brigham  and  Geo.  A.  Smith  were 
accomplices  of  the  crime,  they  sought  to  break  its  force  by 
said  ex  parte  affidavits.  No  doubt  these  affidavits  had  that 
effect  upon  members  of  the  Mormon  church,  but  not  upon 
outsiders,  for  when  these  affidavits  were  critically  examined, 
in  the  light  of  well  established  facts,  the  inference  that  both 
Brigham  and  Smith  were  accessories  became  more  apparent. 
The  context  of  the  affidavit  of  Brigham  was  as  follows : 

114 


"First :  State  your  age  and  the  present  condition  of  your 
health,  and  whether  in  your  present  condition  you  could  travel 
to  attend  in  person  at  Beaver  the  court  now  sitting  there.  If 
not  state  why. 

"Answer:  To  the  first  interrogatory  he  says:  I  am  in 
my  seventy-fifth  year.  It  would  be  a  great  risk,  both  to  my 
health  and  life  for  me  to  travel  to  Beaver  at  the  present  time. 
I  am,  and  have  been  for  some  time,  an  invalid. 

"Second :  What  offices,  either  ecclesiastical,  civil  or  mili- 
tary, did  you  hold  in  the  year  1857? 

"Answer:  I  was  Governor  of  this  Territory,  ex  officio 
Superintendent  of  Indian  Affairs,  and  the  President  oi  the 
Church  of  Jesus  Christ  of  Latter-day  Saints,  during  the  year 
1857. 

"Third:  State  the  condition  of  affairs  between  the  Terri- 
tory of  Utah  and  the  Federal  Government  in  the  summer  and 
fall  of  1857. 

"Answer :  In  May,  or  June,  1857,  United  States  mails  for 
Utah  were  stopped  by  the  Government,  and  all  communication 
by  mail  was  shut  off.  An  army  of  the  United  States  was 
en  route  for  Utah,  with  the  ostensible  design  of  destroying 
the  Latter-day  Saints,  according  to  the  reports  that  reached 
us  from  the  East. 

"Fourth :  Were  there  any  United  States  judges  here 
during  the  summer  and  fall  of  1857? 

"Answer:  To  the  best  of  my  recollection  there  was  no 
United  States  judge  here  in  the  latter  part  of  1857. 

"Fifth :  State  what  you  know  about  trains  of  emigrants 
passing  through  the  Territory  to  the  West,  and  particularly 
about  a  company  from  Arkansas,  en  toute  for  California, 
passing  through  this  city  in  the  summer  or  fall  of  1857. 

"Answer :  As  usual,  emigrant  trains  were  passing  through 
our  Territory  for  the  West.  I  heard  it  rumored  that  a  com- 
pany from  Arkansas  en  route  to  California  had  passed  through 
the  city. 

"Sixth:  Was  this  Arkansas  company  of  emigrants  or- 
dered away  from  Salt  Lake  City  by  yourself,  or  anyone  in 
authority  under  you? 

"Answer :  No,  not  that  I  know  of.  I  never  heard  of 
any  such  thing,  and  certainly  no  such  order  was  given  by 
the  Acting  Governor. 

"Seventh:  Was  any  counsel  or  instruction  given  by  any 
person  to  the  citizens  of  Utah,  not  to  sell  grain,  or  trade  with 
the  emigrant  trains  passing  through  Utah  at  that  time?  If  so, 
what  were  those  instructions  and  that  counsel? 

"Answer:  Yes;  counsel  and  advice  was  given  to  the 
citizens  not  to  sell  grain  to  the  emigrants  to  feed  their  stock, 
but  let  them  have  sufficient  for  themselves,  if  they  were  out. 
The  simple  reason  for  this  was  that  for  several  years  our 

115 


crops  have  been  short,  and  the  prospect  was  at  that  time 
that  we  might  have  trouble  with  the  United  States  army 
then  en  route  for  this  place,  and  we  wanted  to  reserve  the 
grain  for  food.  The  citizens  of  the  Territory  were  counseled 
not  to  feed  grain  even  to  their  own  stock.  No  person  was 
ever  punished  or  called  in  question  for  furnishing  supplies 
to  the  emigrants  within  my  knowledge. 

"Eighth :  When  did  you  first  hear  of  the  attack  and 
destruction  of  the  Arkansas  company  at  Mountain  Meadows 
in  September,  1857? 

"Answer:  I  did  not  learn  anything  of  the  attack  or  de- 
struction of  the  Arkansas  company  until  some  time  after  it 
had  occurred — then  only  by  a  floating  rumor. 

"Ninth :  Did  John  D.  Lee  report  to  you  at  any  time  after 
this  massacre,  what  had  been  done  at  that  massacre,  and  if 
so,  what  did  you  reply  to  him  in  reference  thereto? 

"Answer:  Within  some  two  or  three  months  after  the 
massacre,  he  called  at  my  office  and  had  much  to  say  with 
regard  to  the  Indians ;  their  being  stirred  up  to  anger  and 
threatening  the  settlements  of  the  whites,  and  then  com- 
menced giving  an  account  of  the  massacre.  I  told  him  to  stop, 
as  from  what  I  had  already  learned  by  rumor,  I  did  not  wish 
my  feelings  harrowed  with  a  recital  of  the  details. 

"Tenth :  Did  Philip  Klingensmith  call  at  your  office  with 
John  D.  Lee  at  the  time  of  Lee  making  his  report,  and  did 
you  at  this  time  order  Smith  to  turn  over  the  stock  to  Lee, 
and  order  them  not  to  talk  about  the  massacre  ? 

"Answer:  No;  he  did  not  call  with  John  D.  Lee,  and  I 
have  no  recollection  of  his  ever  speaking  to  me,  or  I  to  him, 
concerning  the  massacre,  or  anything  pertaining  to  the 
property. 

"Eleventh:  Did  you  ever  give  any  directions  concerning 
the  property  taken  from  the  emigrants  at  the  Mountain 
Meadows  massacre,  or  know  anything  as  to  its  disposition? 

"Answer :  No ;  I  never  gave  any  directions  concerning 
the  property  taken  from  the  company  of  emigrants  at  the 
Mountain  Meadows  massacre,  nor  did  I  know  anything  of  that 
property  or  its  disposal,  and  I  do  not  to  this  day,  except 
from  public  rumor. 

"Twelfth :  Why  did  you  not,  as  Governor  of  Utah  Terri- 
tory, institute  proceedings  forthwith  to  investigate  that  mas- 
sacre and  bring  the  guilty  authors  to  justice? 

"Answer :    Because  another  governor   had  been  appointed 
by  the  President  of  the  United  States,  and  was  then  on  the 
way  here  to  take  my  place,  and  I  did  not  know  how  soon  he 
might  arrive  and  because  the  United  States  judges  were  not( 
in  the  Territory. 

"Thirteenth :  Did  you,  about  the  tenth  of  September 
1857,  receive  a  communication  from  Isaac  C.  Haight,  or  any 

116 


other  person  of  Cedar  City,  concerning  a  company  of  emigrants 
called  the  Arkansas  company? 

"Answer:  I  did  receive  a  communication  from  Isaac  C. 
Haight,  or  John  D.  Lee,  who  was  then  a  farmer  for  the 
Indians. 

"Fourteenth:     Have  you  that  communication? 

"Answer:  I  have  not.  I  have  made  diligent  search  for 
it,  but  cannot  find  it. 

"Fifteenth:     Did  you  answer  that  communication? 

"Answer:  I  did,  to  Isaac  C.  Haight,  who  was  then  Act- 
ing President  at  Cedar  City. 

"Sixteenth:  Will  you  state  the  substance  of  your  letter 
to  him? 

"Answer :  Yes ;  it  was  to  let  this  company  of  emigrants, 
and  all  companies  of  emigrants,  pass  through  the  country 
unmolested,  and  to  allay  the  angry  feelings  of  the  Indians 
as  much  as  possible. 

"(Signed)  BRIGHAM  YOUNG. 

"Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  30th  day  of 
July,  A.  D.  1875. 

"WILLIAM  CLAYTON,  Notary  Public." 

Brigham  admits  that  he  was  governor  and  ex  officio 
superintendent  of  Indian  affairs.  Note  the  flimsy  excuse 
which  he  makes  in  his  twelfth  answer  for  neglecting  to  in- 
vestigate the  massacre  and  bring  the  guilty  parties  to  justice. 
Governor  Cummings,  Brigham's  successor,  did  not  arrive  until 
March  12,  1858,  six  months  after  the  massacre.  His  second 
excuse  in  that  answer  is  as  ridiculous,  and  even  more  damag- 
ing than  the  first  flimsy  one.  It  did  not  require  the  presence 
of  a  United  States  judge  to  investigate  the  massacre.  If  the 
presence  of  a  judge  had  been  necessary,  the  probate  judge  of 
the  county  in  which  the  crime  was  committed,  under  the  pro- 
visions of  the  statutes  of  the  Territory,  exercised  general 
criminal  jurisdiction.  An  investigation  could  have  been  made 
by  a  justice  of  the  peace,  acting  as  a  committing  magistrate, 
and  both  the  territorial  marshal  and  the  sheriff  had  authority 
to  act  as  executive  officers  in  the  matter,  and  that  both  the 
attorney  general  of  the  Territory  and  the  district  attorney  of 
the  county  had  authority  to  institute  proceedings.  All  of  the 
territorial  officers  named  were  members  of  Brigham's  church 
and  owed  their  appointment  or  election  to  him,  for  he  exer- 
cised at  that  time  absolute  control  of  the  political  affairs  of 
the  Territory.  The  probate  courts  continued  for  many  years 
after  the  massacre,  and  until  the  decision  of  the  case  of  Ferris 

117 


v.  Higley,  in  1874,  to  exercise  general  criminal  jurisdiction, 
and  the  executive  and  prosecuting  officers  mentioned  con- 
tinued to  perform  the  duties  of  executive  and  prosecuting 
officers  conferred  by  the  Utah  statutes  until  the  passage  of 
the  Poland  bill  in  1874,  and,  under  the  decision  of  the  United 
States  supreme  court  in  the  case  of  Englebrecht  v.  Clinton, 
during  all  of  that  time  were  the  proper  executive  and  prose- 
cuting officers  of  the  district  courts  in  all  cases  arising  under 
territorial  laws. 

The  perpetrators  of  the  massacre  were  subject  to  prose- 
cution only  under  the  territorial  statute  defining  and  punish- 
ing the  crime  of  homicide.  At  any  time  during  which  said 
officers  exercised  the  authority  conferred  upon  them  by  the 
territorial  legislature,  Brigham  Young,  by  exercising  his  power 
could  beyond  any  doubt  have  legitimately  caused  the  guilty 
parties  to  be  indicted  and  punished.  And  as  fifty-two  high  offi- 
cers and  members  of  the  church  of  which  he  was  the  president 
participated  in  the  crime,  it  was  his  manifest  duty,  both  as  an 
officer  and  as  a  citizen  and  church  leader,  to  exercise 
his  power  and  influence  to  accomplish  that  righteous  end. 
It  would  undoubtedly  have  been  effected  long  before  the  lapse 
of  seventeen  years,  if  he  had,  in  earnest,  publicly  ordered  the 
prosecution  of  the  perpetrators  of  the  massacre.  For,  such 
an  order  made  in  good  faith  would  have  been  regarded  as  a 
divine  command  by  most  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  Territory 
and  the  Mormon  civil  authorities. 

Judge  Cradlebaugh,  of  the  second  judicial  district,  held 
a  term  of  court  at  Provo  in  March,  1859,  ten  months  after 
Brigham  had  made  the  offer  to  Governor  Cummings  referred 
to  hereafter,  and  impaneled  a  grand  jury  of  Mormons,  espe- 
cially instructing  them  to  investigate  the  massacre.  In  his 
charge  he  said : 

"*  *  *  I  said  to  you  in  the  outset  that  a  great  num- 
ber of  cases  had  come  to  my  knowledge  of  crimes  having  been 
committed  through  the  country,  and  I  shall  take  the  liberty 
of  naming  a  few  of  them.  The  persons  committing  those 
offenses  have  not  been  prosecuted,  the  reasons  why  I  cannot 
tell,  but  it  strikes  me  that  outside  influences  have  prevented 
it.  If  you  do  your  duty  you  will  not  neglect  to  inquire  into 
those  matters,  or  allow  the  offenders  to  go  unpunished.  I  may 
mention  the  Mountain  Meadows  murders,  where  a  whole 
train  was  cut  off,  except  a  few  children  who  were  too  young 

118 


to  give  evidence  in  court.  It  has  been  claimed  that  this  of- 
fense was  committed  by  Indians,  but  there  is  evidence  that 
there  were  others  who  were  engaging  in  it  besides.  When  the 
Indians  commit  crimes  they  are  not  so  discriminate  as  to 
save  children ;  they  would  not  be  so  particular  as  to  save  the 
children  and  kill  the  rest.  I  say,  that  you  may  look  at  all 
the  crimes  that  have  been  committed  in  the  western  country 
by  the  Indians  and  there  is  no  case  where  they  have  been 
so  careful  as  to  save  the  innocent  children.  But  if  this  be  not 
enough,  we  have  evidence  to  prove  that  there  were  others  engaged 
in  it. 

"A  large  body  of  persons  leaving  Cedar  City,  armed,  and 
after  getting  away  were  organized,  and  went  and  returned 
with  the  spoil.  Now,  there  are^  persons  who  know  that  there 
were  others  engaged  in  the  crime ;  I  brought  a  young  man 
with  me  who  saw  persons  go  out  in  wagons  with  arms, 
others  on  horseback ;  they  were  away  a  day  or  two  and  came 
back  with  the  spoil.  The  Indians  complain  that  in  the  distri- 
bution of  the  property  they  did  not  get  their  share ;  they  seem 
to  think  that  the  parties  engaged  with  them  kept  the  best 
and  gave  them  the  worst.  The  chief,  there  (Kanosh),  is 
equally  amenable  to  law,  and  liable  to  be  punished,  and  I  sup- 
pose it  is  well  known  that  he  was  engaged  in  assisting  to 
exterminate  the  hundred  persons  that  were  in  that  train. 
I  might  name  to  you  persons  who  were  there ;  a  great  number 
of  them  I  have  had  named  to  me.  And  yet,  notwithstanding 
thi5  crime  has  been  committed,  there  has  been  no  effort  made 
to  punish  those  individuals.  I  say,  then,  gentlemen,  it  is 
your  duty  to  look  after  that,  and  if  it  is  a  fact  that  they 
have  been  guilty  of  that  offense,  indict  them,  send  for  them, 
and  then  have  them  brought  before  this  court.  *  *  *  It  is 
not  pleasant  to  talk  about  these  things,  but  the  crimes  have 
been  committed,  and,  if  you  desire,  you  can  investigate  them.  My 
desire  is  that  the  responsibility  shall  be  with  the  grand  jury, 
and  not  with  the  court;  all  the  responsibility  shall  be  with 
you,  and  the  question  is  with  you,  whether  you  will  bring 
those  persons  to  trial." 

Judge  Cradlebaugh  kept  the  grand  jury  in  session  for 
two  weeks,  but  they  failed  to  pay  any  attention  to  his  in- 
structions, and  after  being  severely  reprimanded  by  him  were 
discharged.  An  opportunity  was  thus  afforded  Brigham,  if 
he  had  been  in  earnest  in  the  offer  to  Governor  Cummings 
to  lend  his  aid  in  bringing  the  guilty  to  justice;  but  instead 
of  doing  so  he  opposed  the  efforts  of  the  judge  and  disparaged 
him,  as  shown  in  his  scurrilous  letter  to  Secretary  Belknap, 
written  March  12,  1872,  in  which  he  said  : 

119 


"I  pledged  myself  to  Alford  Cummings,  Governor  of  Utah 
Territory,  to  lend  him  and  the  court  every  assistance  in  my 
power  in  men  and  means  to  thoroughly  investigate  the  Moun- 
tain Meadows  massacre,  and  bring  the  guilty  parties  to  justice. 
That  offer  I  have  made  again  and  again,  and  although  it  has 
not  been  accepted,  I  have  neither  doubt  nor  fear  that  the  perpe- 
trators of  that  tragedy  will  meet  their  just  reward.  But 
sending  an  armed  force  is  not  the  means  of  furthering  the 
ends  of  justice,  although  it  may  serve  an  excellent  purpose  in 
exciting  popular  clamor  against  the  Mormons.  In  1859  Judge 
Cradlebaugh  employed  a  military  force  to  attempt  the  arrest 
of  those  alleged  criminals.  He  engaged  in  all  about  four 
hundred  men,  some  of  whom  were  civilians,  reputed  gamblers, 
thieves,  and  other  camp-followers,  who  were  doubtless  in- 
tended for  jurors,  as  his  associate,  Judge  Eccles,  had  just  done 
in  another  district ;  but  these  accomplished  absolutely  nothing 
further  than  plundering  hen  roosts  and  rendering  themselves 
obnoxious  to  the  citizens  on  their  line  of  march." 

He  could  have  brought  the  guilty  parties  to  justice  any 
time  during  a  period  of  sixteen  years,  if  he  chose  to  exercise 
the  power,  which  the  following  extract  from  a  sermon  de- 
livered by  him  in  March,  1863,  shows  that  he  knew  he 
possessed : 

''When  a  company  of  emigrants  were  traveling  on  the 
southern  route  to  California,  nearly  all  of  the  company  were 
destroyed  by  Indians.  The  unfortunate  affair  has  been  laid 
to  the  charge  of  the  whites.  A  certain  judge  that  was  in  the 
Territory  wanted  the  whole  army  to  accompany  him  into 
Iron  county  to  try  the  whites  for  the  murder  of  that  company 
of  emigrants.  I  told  Governor  .Cummings  that  if  he  would 
take  an  unprejudiced  judge  into  that  district  where  that  horrid 
affair  occurred,  I  would  pledge  myself  that  every  man  in 
that  region  around  about  should  be  forthcoming  when  called  for, 
to  be  condemned  or  acquitted,  as  an  impartial  and  unprejudiced 
judge  and  jury  should  decide,  and  I  pledged  him  that  the 
courts  should  be  protected  from  any  violation  or  hindrance 
in  the  prosecution  of  the  law ;  and  if  any  were  guilty  of  the 
blood  of  those  who  suffered  in  the  Mountain  Meadows  mas- 
sacre, let  them  suffer  the  penalty  of  the  law:  but  to  this  day 
they  have  not  touched  the  matter  for  fear  the  Mormons  will 
be  acquitted  from  the  charge  of  having  a  hand  in  it,  and  our 
enemies  would  thus  be  deprived  of  a  favorite  topic  to  talk 
about  when  urging  hostilities  against  us — 'The  Mountain 
Meadows  massacre !  only  to  think  of  the  Mountain  Meadows 
massacre !'  " 


120 


If  Brigham  made  the  foregoing  "pledge"  to  Gov.  Cummings, 
he  well  knew  that  under  the  statutes,  hereinbefore  re- 
ferred to,  the  district  court  could  only  use  Mormon  instru- 
mentalities in  the  prosecution,  and  that  without  a  special  order 
from  him  to  the  grand  jury  and  the  Mormon  officials  of  the 
court,  no  indictment  could  be  found.  The  offer  was  one  of 
Brigham's  crafty  tricks,  for  he  knew  if  it  were  accepted  that 
any  efforts  made  in  pursuance  thereof  would  be  abortive. 

As  Governor  and  ex  officio  superintendent  of  Indian 
affairs,  it  was  Brigham's  imperative  duty  to  investigate  the 
massacre  himself,  after  it  was  reported  to  him  by  Lee,  even  if 
the  Indians  alone  had  committed  it ;  but  he  failed  to  do  so. 
An  investigation  by  him  would  have  soon  shown  the  com- 
plicity of  at  least  fifty-two  members  of  the  church  of  which 
he  was  president,  seer  and  revelator,  and  that  among  those 
members  were  several  of  his  subordinate  church  officers. 

Lee  alleged  in  his  confession  that  when  attending  the 
October  Conference  of  the  church,  a  month  or  six  weeks  after 
the  massacre,  he  made  a  full  statement  of  the  facts  to  Brig- 
ham  and  gave  him  the  names  of  the  Mormons  engaged.  If 
this  was  true,  an  investigation  for  the  purpose  of  ascertaining 
the  facts  was  wholly  unnecessary.  Being  in  possession  of  that 
knowledge,  Brigham's  simple  official  duty  only  required  him  to 
have  the  guilty  parties  arrested,  and  collect  and  sell  the  property 
of  the  emigrants  for  the  use  of  the  unfortunate  children  who 
were  spared.  His  failure  to  take  charge  of  and  sell  the  prop- 
erty of  the  massacred  emigrants,  and  procure  the  arrest  and 
conviction  of  the  guilty  can  only  be  rationally  accounted  for 
on  the  ground  that  he  was  an  accessory  either  before  or  after 
the  commission  of  the  crime. 

In  answer  to  the  eleventh  question  in  his  affidavit:  "Did 
you  ever  give  any  directions  concerning  the  property  taken 
from  the  emigrants  at  the  Mountain  Meadows  massacre,  or 
know  anything  as  to  its  disposition?"  Brigham  replied: 
"No;  I  never  gave  any  directions  concerning  the  property 
taken  from  the  company  of  emigrants  at  the  Moun- 
tain Meadows  massacre,  nor  did  I  know  anything  of  that 
property  or  its  disposal,  and  do  not  to  this  day,  except  from 
public  rumor." 

He  must  have  known  that  seventeen  little  children  had 
been  saved,  for  two  of  them  were  given  shortly  after  the 

121 


massacre  to  Mrs.  Cook,  who  at  the  time  was  a  teacher  of 
music  in  his  family  at  Salt  Lake  City,  and  who  afterwards 
became  a  client  of  mine  and  stated  to  me  these  facts.  The 
other  children  were  scattered  around  among  the  Mormons. 
The  number  of  small  children  showed  that  the  emigrant 
train  was  a  very  large  one,  and  that  the  emigrants  must  have 
had  in  their  possession  a  large  amount  of  property. 

That  Brigham  fully  knew  is  shown  by  an  extract  from 
the  report  of  Mr.  Forney,  a  special  agent  sent  out  to  investi- 
gate the  affair,  and  to  collect  the  children  and  send  them  to 
Arkansas  to  friends  and  relatives.  Concerning  the  wrongful 
and  unconscionable  claims  presented  to  him  by  a  number  of 
the  inhabitants  of  the  Territory  relating  to  the  orphans  sur- 
viving the  massacre,  he  says : 

"In  pursuance  to  directions  from  the  Indian  department, 
I  forward  the  accounts  of  expenses  incurred  in  recovering, 
maintaining,  and  finally  sending  to  Fort  Leavenworth,  the 
seventeen  children  surviving  the  Mountain  Meadows  massacre, 
in  September,  1857.  I  respectfully  invite  your  attention  to 
Abstract  No.  1,  which  contains  the  accounts  of  expenses  for 
said  children.  I  rejected  a  number  of  claims  against  the  gov- 
ernment for  these  children,  for  different  alleged  expenses. 
There  were  a  number  of  claims  for  purchasing  the  children 
from  the  Indians,  by  persons  with  whom  Mr.  Hamblin  [Brig- 
ham's  interpreter]  found  them ;  when  it  is  a  well-known  fact 
that  they  did  not  live  among  the  Indians  one  hour.  I  charged 
to  the  account  of  the  children  part  of  Mr.  Hamblin's  wages. 
The  amount  of  claims  presented  to  me  on  account  of  the 
children  by  persons  in  the  southern  portion  of  Territory, 
amount  to  over  seven  thousand  dollars,  of  which  amount  I  only 
paid  twenty-nine  hundred  and  sixty-one  dollars  and  seventy- 
seven  cents.  Those  I  have  paid  I  considered  strictly  and 
entirely  proper."  (Senate  Executive  Document  No.  42,  page 
71,  q.  v.  further  on.) 

If  Brigham  Young  had  possessed  official  integrity  or 
common  humanity,  and  really  was  not  an  accessory,  he  would 
not  have  been  guilty  of  the  criminal  nonfeasance  in  office 
which  is  shown  by  answer  eleven,  but  would  have  promptly 
taken  vigorous  steps  to  prevent  the  unfortunate  children 
spared  from  being  robbed  by  the  wretches  who  murdered 
their  parents  and  elder  brothers  and  sisters.  His  criminal 
nonfeasance  in  this  respect,  and  in  failing  to  take  any  steps 
to  bring  the  criminals  to  justice,  in  view  of  the  facts  dis- 

122 


closed,  was  such  as  only  an  accessory  either  before  or  after 
the  fact  would  have  been  guilty  of. 

Not  only  does  his  criminal  nonfeasance  in  office  show 
his  complicity  as  accessory,  but  there  are  positive  statements 
and  other  matters  which  strongly  tend  to  prove  that  fact. 
John  D.  Lee  in  his  confession  states : 

"When  I  arrived  in  the  city,  I  went  to  President  Young's 
house,  and  gave  him  a  full  detailed  statement  of  the  whole 
affair  from  first  to  last.  I  gave  him  the  names  of  every  man 
that  was  present  at  the  massacre.  He  said  to  me,  'When 
you  get  home  I  want  you  to  sit  down  and  write  a  long  letter, 
and  give  me  an  account  of  the  affair,  charging  it  to  the 
Indians.  You  sign  the  letter  as  "Farmer  to  the  Indians,"  and 
direct  it  to  me  as  Indian  agent.  I  can  make  use  of  such  a 
letter  to  keep  off  dangerous  and  troublesome  inquiries.' ' 

Lee  in  substance  further  stated  that  in  pursuance  of  that 
request  he  sent  the  following  letter  to  Brigham  Young,  and 
thought  he  had  managed  the  affair  nicely: 

"Harmony,  Washington  Co.  Ut. 

"November  20th,  1857. 

"To    his    Excellency,    B.    Young,    exofficio    Superintendent    of 
Indian  Affairs. 

"Dear  Sir:  My  report  under  the  date  of  May  llth,  1857, 
relative  to  the  Indians  over  whom  I  have  charge  as  Farmer, 
showed  a  friendly  relation  between  them  and  the  whites, 
which  doubtless  would  have  continued  to  increase,  had  not 
the  white  man  been  the  first  aggressor,  as  was  the  case  with 
Capt.  Fancher's  company  of  emigrants  passing  through  to 
California  about  the  middle  of  September  last,  on  Corn  creek, 
fifteen  miles  south  of  Fillmore  City,  Millard  county.  The 
company  there  poisoned  the  meat  of  an  ox  which  they  gave 
to  the  Pahvant  Indians  to  eat,  causing  four  of  them  to  die 
immediately,  besides  poisoning  a  number  more.  The  company 
also  poisoned  the  water  where  they  encamped,  killing  the  cattle 
of  the  settlers.  This  unguarded  policy,  planned  in  wickedness 
by  this  company,  raised  the  ire  of  the  Indians,  which  soon 
spread  to  the  southern  tribe,  firing  them  up  with  revenge  till 
blood  was  in  their  path,  and  as  the  breach  according  to  their 
traditions  was  a  national  one,  consequently  any  portion  of 
the  nation  was  liable  to  atone  for  that  offense.  About  the 
22nd  of  September,  Captain  Fancher  and  company  fell  victims 
to  their  wrath  near  Mountain  Meadows;  their  cattle  and  horses 
were  shot  down  in  every  direction,  and  their  wagons  and 
property  mostly  committed  to  the  flames."  ****** 

123 


In  the  ninth  answer  of  his  affidavit,  Brigham  admits 
that  Lee  had  called  at  his  office,  and  when  the  latter  commenced 
giving  an  account  of  the  massacre,  he  told  Lee  to  stop,  as 
from  what  he  had  already  learned  by  rumor,  he  did  not  wish 
his  "feelings  harrowed  up  with  the  recital  of  the  details." 
That  he  possessed  such  sensitive  and  humane  feelings,  as  this 
answer  was  evidently  intended  to  convey,  is  disproved  by 
the  numerous  cut-throat,  blood-atoning  sermons  delivered  by 
him  to  members  of  his  church  previous  to  the  massacre.  It  is 
"passing  strange"  if  Brigham  with  his  known  sagacity  did  not  dis- 
cover the  untruthfulness  of  Lee's  letter.  He  certainly  must 
have  known,  and  before  Lee's  letter — written  more  than  three 
months  after  the  massacre — that  seventeen  children  were 
spared.  The  existence  of  this  fact  was  what  first  caused  federal 
officials  of  the  Territory  to  suspect  that  the  massacre  was  not 
the  work  of  the  Indians,  and  led  to  the  investigation  by  them 
which  disclosed  that  the  crime  was  committed  by  Mormons, 
as  it  was  generally  known  that  in  massacres  by  Indians  they 
kill,  indiscriminately,  both  children  and  adults.  Again,  if  the 
massacre  had  been  the  work  of  Indians,  some  of  them  would 
have  been  killed  by  the  emigrants  in  defense  of  their  wives 
and  children,  as  many  of  the  Mormons  would  have  been  if  their 
strategy  had  not  been  successful.  It  is  strange,  "passing 
strange,"  if  the  failure  of  Lee  to  state  in  that  letter  that 
Indians  were  killed  did  not  attract  the  attention  of  Brigham 
and  arouse  his  suspicion  that  Lee's  letter  was  untrue.  It  is 
evident,  however,  that  that  letter  was  among  many  of  Brig- 
ham's  foxy  devices  to  divert  attention  from  unpleasant  facts. 
Again,  Klingensmith  testified  that  at  the  October  conference 
following  the  massacre  he  met  Lee,  who  said  to  him  that  he 
had  told  Brigham  Young  everything  that  had  transpired ; 
that  the  next  day  Lee,  Charley  Hopkins  and  he  met  in  Brig- 
ham's  office,  and  that  Brigham  told  Klingensmith,  who  had 
control  of  the  property  of  the  emigrants,  to  turn  it  over  to 
Lee,  as  he  was  Indian  agent  anyway,  and  the  disposition 
of  the  property  properly  belonged  to  him ;  and  also  said  : 
"What  you  know  about  this  affair,  do  not  tell  to  any  one,  do 
not  talk  about  it  among  yourselves." 


124 


At  the  second  trial  of  John  D.  Lee  the  following  was 
elicted  in  the  examination  of  Jacob  Hamblin  by  William  Howard, 
United  States  attorney: 

Q.  Tell  what  else  Lee  told  you.  A.  Well,  he  spoke  of 
many  little  incidents. 

Q.  Mention  any  of  those  incidents.  A.  There  were  two 
young  ladies  brought  out. 

Q.  By  whom?  A.  By  an  Indian  chief  at  Cedar  City,  and 
he  asked  him  (Lee)  what  he  should  do  with  them,  and  the 
Indian  killed  one  and  he  killed  the  other. 

Q.  Tell  the  story  he  told  you.    A.  That  is  about  it. 

Q.  Where  were  these  young  girls  brought  from;  did  he 
say?  A.  From  a  thicket  of  oak  brush  where  they  were  con- 
cealed. 

Q.  Tell  just  what  he  said  about  that.  A.  The  Indian 
killed  one  and  he  cut  the  other  one's  throat,  is  what  he  said. 

Q.  Who  cut  the  other's  throat?     A.  Mr.  Lee. 

Q.  Tell  us  all  the  details  of  the  conversation  and  killing. 
A.  Well,  he  said  they  were  all  killed,  as  he  supposed ;  that 
the  chief  of  Cedar  City  then  brought  out  the  young  ladies. 

Q.  What  did  he  say  the  chief  said  to  him?  A.  Asked 
what  should  be  done  with  them. 

Q.  What  else  did  the  chief  say?  A.  He  said  they  didn't 
ought  to  be  killed. 

Q.  Did  the  chief  say  to  Lee  why  they  should  not  be 
killed?  A.  Well,  he  said  they  were  pretty  and  he  wanted  to 
save  them. 

Q.  What  did  he  tell  you  that  he  said  to  the  chief?    A. 
That  according  to  the  orders  [the  orders  he  had]  they  were 
too  old  and  big  to  let  live. 

Q.  What  did  he  say  he  told  the  chief  to  do?  A.  The  chief 
shot  one  of  them. 

Q.  Who  killed  the  other?    A.  He  did,  he  said. 

Q.  How?    A.  He  threw  her  down  and  cut  her  throat. 

Q.  Did  you  ascertain  in  that  conversation,  or  subse- 
quently, where  it  was  they  were  killed?  A.  When  I  got  home 
I  asked  my  Indian  boy  and  we  went  out  to  where  this  took 
place,  and  we  saw  two  young  ladies  lying  there  with  their 
throats  cut. 

Q.  What  was  the  condition  of  their  bodies?  A.  They 
were  rather  in  a  putrefied  state;  their  throats  were  cut;  I 
didn't  look  further  than  that. 

Q.  What  were  their  ages?  A.  Looked  about  fourteen  or 
fifteen. 

This  witness  also  testified  that  Lee  told  him  the  other  cir- 
cumstances of  the  massacre,  and  how  the  emigrants  were  be- 

125 


trayed  and  induced  to  surrender.     On  cross-examination  by 
Mr.  Bishop,  he  answered  as  follows : 

Q.  Have  you  ever  given  this  conversation  that  you  had 
with  Lee  to  anyone — to  the  public  generally?  A.  I  have  no 
recollection  of  it. 

Q.  Have  you  ever  given  a  report  of  it  to  any  of  your  super- 
iors in  the  church,  or  officers  over  you?  A.  Well,  I  did  speak 
of  it  to  President  Young  and  George  A.  Smith. 

Q.  Did  you  give  them  the  whole  facts?  A.  I  gave  them 
some  more  than  I  have  here,  because  I  recollected  more  of  it. 

Q.  When  did  you  do  that?  A.  Pretty  soon  after  it  hap- 
pened. 

Q.  You  are  certain  you  told  it  fuller  than  you  have  told 
it  here  on  the  stand?  A.  I  told  them  everything  I  could. 

Q.  Who  else  did  you  tell  it  to?  A.  I  have  no  recollection 
of  telling  it  to  any  one  else. 

Q.  Why  have  you  not  told  it  before  this  time?  A.  Be- 
cause I  did  not  feel  like  it. 

Q.  Why  did  you  not  feel  like  it?  You  felt  and  knew  that 
a  great  crime  had  been  committed,  did  you  not?  A.  I  felt  that 
a  great  crime  had  been  committed,  but  Brigham  Young  told 
me  that  "as  soon  as  we  can  get  a  court  of  justice  we  will  fer- 
ret this  thing  out — but  till  then,  don't  say  anything  about  it." 

Jacob  Hamblin  was  Brigham  Young's  Indian  interpreter, 
and  his  testimony  not  only  furnishes  additional  proof  that 
Brigham  Young  was  informed  of  the  facts  of  the  massacre 
shortly  after  its  perpetration,  but  also  corroborates  the  state- 
ments of  Lee  and  Klingensmith  that  Brigham  advised  them 
not  to  talk  about  the  occurrence. 

Again,  if  Brigham  was  not  an  accomplice,  why  did  he 
employ  Sutherland  &  Bates  to  defend  Lee?  The  letter  of  Lee 
was  one  of  Brigham's  devices  to  conceal  from  the  public  and 
the  officers  of  the  federal  government  the  real  participants  of 
the  crime,  and  the  dishonest  use  he  made  of  it  is  shown  by  the 
following  letter  written  by  him  over  a  year  after  the  massacre, 
and  after  being  fully  informed  as  to  its  horrible  details  by  Lee 
and  Jacob  Hamblin: 

"Office  of  Superintendent  of  Indian  Affairs. 

"Salt  Lake  City,  Utah,  Jan.  6,  1858. 

"Hon.   James   W.   Denver,   Commissioner   of   Indian   Affairs, 
Washington,  D.  C. 

"Sir :  On  or  about  the  middle  of  September,  a  company  of 
emigrants  traveling  by  the  southern  route  to  California  poi- 
soned the  meat  of  an  ox  that  died  and  gave  it  to  the  Indians  to 

126 


cat.  This  caused  the  immediate  death  of  four  of  their  tribe 
and  poisoning  several  others.  This  company  also  poisoned 
the  water  where  they  were  encamped.  This  occurred  at  Corn 
creek,  fifteen  miles  south  of  Fillmore  City.  I  quote  from  a  let- 
ter written  to  me  by  John  D.  Lee,  Farmer  of  the  Indians  in 
Iron  and  Washington  county.  'About  the  22nd  of  September 
Capt.  Fancher  and  a  company  fell  victims  to  the  Indians'  wrath 
near  Mountain  Meadows;  their  cattle  and  horses  were  cut 
down  in  every  direction  and  their  wagons  and  property  mostly 
committed  to  the  flames.  Lamentable  as  this  case  truly  is, 
it  is  the  only  natural  consequence  of  that  fatal  policy  which 

treats  the  Indians  like  the  wolves  or  other  ferocious  beasts. 
*     *     *" 

No  one  knew  better  than  Brigham  that  this  letter  was 
untrue,  and  that  the  charges  there  made  against  the  emigrants 
were  concocted  by  the  assassins  who  murdered  them.  The  let- 
ter, in  connection  with  Lee's  viewed  in  the  light  of  the  facts 
disclosed  respecting  the  massacre,  and  Brigham  Young's  rela- 
tions thereto,  is  most  damaging,  and  is  additional  evidence 
that  he  was  an  accessory  after,  if  not  before,  the  fact. 

The  following  extracts  from  newspapers  show  how  Brig- 
ham's  affidavit  was  regarded  by  the  hundreds  who  commented 
thereon : 

"As  a  literary  curiosity,  Brigham  Young's  affidavit  de- 
serves respectable  consideration.  It  is  indeed  calculated  to 
put  the  prophet  in  quite  a  new  light  before  the  world.  Evi- 
dently there  has  been  a  terrible  mistake  somewhere.  He  has 
never  been  the  autocrat  supposed.  He  has  never  had  author- 
ity over  the  Mormons.  He  did  not  know  anything  of  the 
Mountain  Meadows  massacre  until,  by  floating  rumor,  two 
months  after  it.  But  when  at  length,  in  a  casual  way  it  came 
to  his  knowledge  that  the  people  of  his  church  had  butchered 
one  hundred  and  thirty  defenseless  men,  women  and  children, 
he  was  so  overcome  that  he  could  not  bear  to  hear  the  details. 
And  then  according  to  his  statement,  he  absolutely  dropped 
the  matter.  Seeing,  however,  that  his  neglect  to  take  any 
action  might  appear  strange  to  the  world,  he  offered  as  an 
explanation  of  this  that  'I  did  not  examine  into  the  matter 
because  another  governor  was  appointed,  and  enroute  to  the 
Territory;  and  because  no  United  States  judges  were  here.' 
Really,  this  is  too  bad.  It  is  adding  insult  to  injury  for  a 
man  in  Young's  position  to  affront  the  intelligence  of  the 
nation  with  so  bald  and  so  puerile  a  tissue  of  flummery  as 
this.  So  clumsily  is  it  constructed,  moreover,  that  it  affords 
cumulative  proof  that  he  possessed  the  necessary  authority  in 
the  premises." — Sacramento  Record. 

127 


."Brigham  Young's  affidavit  in  the  Mountain  Meadows 
massacre  case  at  Beaver,  Utah,  is  a  very  thin  document.  He 
pretends  that  he  never  really  got  an  account  of  the  affair. 
Vague  rumors  he  admits  had  reached  his  ears  of  a  deed  over 
which  every  family  in  the  United  States  was  shuddering,  but 
neither  enough  nor  sufficient  definite  information  to  suggest  to 
him  the  desirability  of  investigating  the  matter.  Nay,  it  is 
even  added  in  the  affidavit  that  when  Lee,  a  long  time  after  the 
affair,  proposed  to  tell  him  something  about  it,  he  refused  to 
have  his  feelings  harrowed  up  by  a  recital  of  the  details.  The 
transparent  hypocrisy  of  the  entire  affidavit  is  the  strongest 
evidence  of  Brigham's  complicity  in  the  whole  business. "- 
St.  Albion  (Vt.)  Advertiser. 

"The  Mormons  are  making  a  desperate  effort  to  clear 
Brigham  Young  of  the  Mountain  Meadows  massacre,  but 
they  will  never  succeed  in  convincing  the  world  that  the  old 
sinner  was  not  guilty  of  participation  in  the  preliminary  to 
that  inhuman  outrage,  nor  that  the  work  of  butchery  was  not 
perpetrated  with  his  sanction,  if  not  by  his  positive  command.'' 
— Leavenworth  Commercial. 

"Brigham  Young  was  the  High  Priest  and  Governor,  and 
is  still  the  head  of  the  church.  No  one  who  knows  the  ex- 
tent of  his  power  over  his  dupes,  and  the  spirit  in  which  he 
wielded  this  power  so  long  as  he  thought  himself  at  a  safe 
distance  from  the  eyes  of  the  world,  can  doubt  for  a  moment 
that  this  massacre  lies  at  his  door,  either  as  a  result  of  his 
direct  order  or  at  least  the  natural  and  necessary  result  of 
his  teachings." — Helena  (Mont.)  Herald. 

On  pages  708-709,  Vol.  I,  of  Whitney's  history;  is  the 
following : 

"Of  the  militia  ordered  or  lured  to  the  scene  of  the  mas- 
sacre by  Lee  and  Klingensmith,  nearly  all  were  young  men 
who  acted  in  innocence  of  evil  under  military  orders ;  in  most 
instances  they  took  no  part  in  the  actual  killing.  It  was  not 
until  1870  that  Lee's  complicity  was  established;  and  when 
upon  investigation  and  recommendation  of  Apostle  Erastus 
Snow  made  to  President  Young,  it  was  reported  and  unani- 
mously carried  in  council  of  the  Apostles  held  in  Salt  Lake 
City,  that  John  D.  Lee  be  expelled  from  the  church." 

At  the  time  of  the  massacre  Brigham  Young  was  not  only 
governor  and  Indian  superintendent,  but  also,  under  the  organ- 
ic act  of  the  Territory,  commander-in-chief  of  the  militia,  and 
yet  according  to  Whitney,  Lee's  complicity  in  the  massacre 
was  not  established  until  thirteen  years  thereafter.  Up  to 

128 


that  time  neither  Lee  nor  any  of  the  other  numerous  partici- 
pants, except  Klingensmith,  who  had  revealed  the  crime,  had 
been  disciplined  by  the  church,  but  continued  in  full  fellow- 
ship ;  nor  were  any  of  the  numerous  church  members,  except 
Lee,  Haight  and  Klingensmith,  who  were  active  participants  in 
the  massacre,  ever  disfellowshiped  by  the  church  on  account 
of  their  active  participation  in  that  brutal  crime ;  nor  has  any 
of  them  except  Lee  ever  been  punished. 

It  appears  from  the  testimony  that  Geo.  A.  Smith — who, 
according  to  Whitney's  history,  left  Salt  Lake  City  on  his 
journey  south  at  the  end  of  July — delivered  a  sermon  in  the 
public  square  of  Beaver  City  in  which  he  stated  that  the  emi- 
grants were  coming,  and  forbade  the  people  to  sell  them  any- 
thing, under  penalty  of  being  disfellowshiped,  and  that  other 
sermons  to  the  same  effect  were  delivered  by  him.  In  his 
ex  parte  affidavit  introduced  in  evidence  by  Mr.  Howard,  dis- 
trict attorney,  at  the  second  trial  of  Lee,  Smith  admits  that  he 
preached  several  times  on  his  way  south,  and  also  on  his 
return;  that  he  advised  the  people  to  furnish  all  emigrant 
companies  passing  through  the  Territory  with  what  they 
might  actually  want  for  breadstuff  for  the  support  of  them-t 
selves  and  families;  but  advised  the  pepole  not  to  feed  their 
grain  to  their  own  stock,  nor  to  sell  it  to  the  emigrants  for 
that  purpose." 

Brigham,  to  strengthen  Smith's  assertion,  in  his  answer  to 
the  seventh  question  asked  in  his  affidavit,  stated  that  he  had 
given  the  same  advice.  Both  Brigham's  and  Smith's  affidav- 
its were  sworn  to  on  the  same  day,  before  the  same  notary 
public,  and  were  evidently  intended  to  be  used  for  the  same 
purpose,  i.  e.,  to  break  the  force  of  the  testimony  in  the  first 
Lee  trial,  which  showed  that  Geo.  A.  Smith  on  his  trip  south 
had  forbidden  the  people  to  deal  with  the  emigrants.  The  affi- 
davit of  Smith  raises  the  question  of  veracity  between  himself 
and  the  witnesses  who  testified  that  he  forbade  the  people 
to  trade  with  the  emigrants.  Which  of  these  contradictory 
statements  is  true  must  be  determined  by  the  extrinsic  testi- 
mony and  circumstances  throwing  light  upon  the  question. 
The  reason  why,  as  stated  by  Smith,  he  was  moved  to  advise 
his  people  to  furnish  the  emigrants  with  necessary  food  is  not 
apparent,  nor  can  it  be  imagined  why  he  should  do  so.  Did 
he  fear  that  it  would  not  be  done  unless  he  advised  it?  It  is 

129 


not  presumable  that  he  had  any  such  fears,  for  his  people 
were  members  of  a  civilized  and  Christian  race  of  men,  and  to 
refuse  to  sell  necessary  food  to  an  emigrant  company  among 
which  were  so  many  women  and  little  children,  or  to  any 
company,  would  have  been  characteristic  only  of  barbarians ; 
nor  is  it  presumable  that  if  he  had  given  such  advice  that  the 
emigrants  would  have  experienced  any  difficulty  whatever  in 
obtaining  necessary  food.  But  if  Smith's  sermons  were  such 
as  stated  by  Robert  Kershaw  and  Mrs.  Thompson  it  is  pre- 
sumable— as  Smith  was  one  of  the  counselors  of  Brigham 
Young  and  therefore  a  member  of  the  high  priesthood — that 
in  view  of  the  consequences  of  violating  the  oaths  of  obedi- 
ence to  the  priesthood  the  emigrants  would  be  unable  to  pro- 
cure necessary  food. 

The  reason  assigned  by  both  Smith  and  Brigham  for  ad- 
vising the  people  not  to  sell  their  grain  to  emigrants  is  very 
flimsy.  A  great  majority  of  the  trains  passing  through  the 
Territory  took  the  northern  route,  by  way  of  Soda  Springs. 
A  very  limited  number  ever  took  the  southern  route  on  ac- 
count of  the  hardship  of  crossing  the  unavoidable  sandy  desert. 
Nearly  all  the  trains  were  hauled  by  oxen,  and  very  few  by 
mules.  All  the  animals  engaged  in  moving  the  trains  sub- 
sisted on  the  natural  pasturage  of  the  plains.  No  grain  was 
carried  to  feed  the  work-animals,  and  but  a  very  limited  quantity 
was  carried  to  feed  to  saddle-horses  used  for  scouting  purposes, 
and  usually  there  were  not  more  than  two  or  three  of  such. 
If  an  emigrant  was  in  need  of  grain  for  feed  he  would  certainly 
purchase  oats  or  barley  and  not  breadstuff,  and  he  would 
never  think  of  feeding  grain  to  oxen.  I  will  venture  to  say 
that  the  grain  purchased  annually  by  emigrants  passing  over 
the  southern  route  in  comparison  to  the  local  supply  was 
not  more  than  as  a  drop  in  a  bucket  of  water. 

Smith's  journey  through  the  south  of  Utah  apparently 
was  a  natural  proceeding,  often  indulged  in  by  the  directing 
heads  of  the  church  as  a  sort  of  a  verbal  roundup  and  inspec- 
tion of  the  faithful.  And  almost  simultaneously  with  the  ap- 
pearance of  Smith,  according  to  all  accruing  testimony,  the 
local  mouthpieces  of  the  church  began  sermons  in  which  they 
informed  their  adherents  of  the  approaching  emigrants,  and 
not  only  forbade  the  sale  or  barter  of  anything  with  the  in- 

130 


vaders,  but  denounced  them  as  mobocrats  and  enemies  of  the 
Mormons,  and  various  other  covert  slanders.  This  statement 
in  Lee's  confession  fully  indicates  Smith's  design  respecting 
the  emigrants : 

"In  August,  about  ten  days  before  the  emigrants  arrived, 
Gen.  Geo.  A.  Smith  called  upon  me.  He  said,  'I  have  sent 
down  here  by  the  old  boss,  Brigham  Young,  to  instruct  the 
brethren  of  different  settlements  not  to  sell  any  grain  to  our 
enemies.  Suppose  an  emigrant  train  should  come  along 
through  the  southern  country,  making  threats  against  our 
people  and  bragging  of  the  part  they  took  in  helping  to  kill  the 
prophets — what  do  you  think  the  brethren  would  do  with 
them?  Would  they  be  permitted  to  go  their  way,  or  would 
the  brethren  pitch  into  them  and  give  them  a  good  drubbing?' 
To  which  I  replied :  'I  am  sure  they  would  be  wiped  out  if 
they  had  been  making  threats  against  our  people.  Unless 
emigrants  have  a  pass  from  Brigham  Young  or  some  one  in 
authority,  they  will  certainly  never  get  safely  through  this 
country.'  My  reply  pleased  him  very  much ;  he  laughed  heart- 
ily, and  said :  'Do  you  really  believe  the  brethren  would  make 
it  lively  for  such  a  train?'  I  said  'Yes,  sir.  I  know  they  will, 
unless  they  are  protected  by  a  pass  or  positive  order  of 
Governor  Young,  as  the  people  are  all  bitter  against  the 
Gentiles,  and  full  of  religious  zeal,  and  anxious  to  avenge 
the  blood  of  the  prophets.'  The  only  reply  which  he  made, 
was  to  the  effect  that  on  his  way  down  from  Salt  Lake  City, 
he  had  had  a  long  talk  with  Major  Haight  on  the  same  sub- 
ject, and  that  Haight  had  assured  him  that  the  emigrants  who 
came  along  without  a  pass  from  Governor  Young  could  not 
escape  from  the  Territory.  We  then  rode  along  for  some  dis- 
tance, when  he  again  turned  to  me  and  said  'Brother  Lee,  I 
am  satisfied  that  the  brethren  are  under  the  influence  of  the 
reformation,  and  they  will  do  just  as  you  say  they  will  with 
the  wicked  emigrants  that  come  through  the  country,  making 
threats  and  abusing  our  people.'  I  have  been  told  by  Joseph 
Wood,  Thomas  T.  Willis  and  many  others,  that  they  heard 
Geo.  A.  Smith  preach  in  Cedar  City  during  that  trip,  and  that 
he  told  the  people  that  the  emigrants  were  coming,  and  that 
they  must  not  sell  the  company  any  grain  or  provisions,  for 
they  were  a  mob  of  villains  and  outlaws,  and  enemies  of  God 
and  the  Mormon  people." 

Mr.  Bishop,  who  was  Lee's  real  attorney,  in  his  preface  to 
Lee's  confession,  stated  that : 

"After  all  chance  of  escape  had  vanished  and  death  was 
certain,  the  better  nature  of  Lee  overcame  his  superstition  and 
fanaticism,  and  he  gave  me  his  confession  of  the  facts  con- 

131 


nected  with  the  massacre  and  requested  me  to  publish  the 
same.  Why  he  refused  to  confess  at  an  earlier  day  and  save 
his  own  life  by  placing  the  guilt  where  it  belonged,  is  a  ques- 
tion which  is  answered  by  the  statement  that  he  was  still  a 
slave  to  his  endowment  and  Danite  oaths,  and  trusted  until  too 
late  to  the  promises  of  protection  by  Brigham  Young." 

A  false  statement  respecting  Smith  could  not  benefit  Lee 
in  any  possible  way,  nor  could  he  gain  anything  by  falsely  im- 
plicating any  innocent  person,  and,  in  view  of  the  well  known 
facts  and  circumstances,  it  is  clear  that  he  has  not  done  so  in 
his  confession. 

The  following  synopsis  of  my  closing  speech  to  the  jury 
at  the  first  trial  of  Lee  was  made  by  Mr.  Lockley,  then  the 
editor  of  the  Salt  Lake  Tribune,  who  was  present  at  the  trial : 

"Mr.  Baskin  made  the  closing  argument  for  the  prosecution, 
He  commented  upon  the  charge  of  the  opposing  counsel,  that  the 
case  was  being  tried  by  popular  clamor,  and  that  the  prosecution 
addressed  itself  to  the  prejudice  of  the  audience  and  jury,  and 
said  by  the  severe  arraignment  of  the  people  of  the  United  States. 
and  the  peoples'  attorneys,  a  stranger  would  be  in  doubt  who  was 
really  on  trial.  It  had  been  admitted  that  murder  was  committed* 
heinous  in  nature  and  revolting  in  its  details.  The  fact  is  well 
known  that  at  the  time  of  the  massacre  not  over  one  hundred 
Gentiles  were  living  in  the  Territory.  The  speaker  dwelt  briefly 
upon  the  organization  of  the  Nauvoo  Legion,  and  said  that  'it  was 
a  militia  body  obnoxious  to  public  sentiment,  a  brutal  instrument 
of  an  ecclesiastical  despotism,  and  part  and  parcel  of  the  Mormon 
church.  Its  highest  officers  were  leaders  of  that  church.'  He 
severely  criticized  the  length  of  time  the  crime  had  been  allowed 
to  slumber,  and  quoted  from  the  Utah  statutes  to  show  that  the 
execution  of  the  law  was  in  the  hands  of  the  Mormon  authori- 
ties ;  that  the  territorial  marshal  appointed  by  the  legislature  sum- 
moned the  grand  and  petit  jurors ;  that  the  attorney  general  ap- 
pointed by  the  same  body  was  the  prosecuting  officer  of  the  dis- 
trict courts  until  last  year,  when  an  act  of  Congress  changed  the 
judicial  system  of  Utah,  vesting  the  power  to  prosecute  criminals 
in  the  United  States  district  attorney,  and  that  the  probate  courts 
exercised  general  criminal  jurisdiction.  He  said  'the  blame  for 
delay  in  instituting  a  judicial  investigation  into  the  violation  of 
crime  rests  solely  with  the  Mormon  authorities,  who,  having  the 
power  entirely  in  their  own  hands,  have  thrown  every  impediment 
in  the  way  of  executing  the  law/  To  make  this  disgraceful  fact 
more  apparent,  the  speaker  pointed  to  one  of  the  prisoner's  coun- 
sel who  long  held  the  office  of  prosecuting  attorney  for  the  judi- 
cial district,  and  whose  duty  during  his  tenure  of  office  it  was  to 
bring  his  client  to  justice,  and  said  that  'Congress  at  last  having 

132 


acted,  unpunished  crimes  are  being  investigated  and  offenders 
who  have  long  enjoyed  security  brought  to  the  bar  of  justice.' 

"  'The  counsel  for  the  defense  says  that  we  ask  you  to  "con- 
vict Lee,  because  he  is  a  Mormon."  Such  an  assertion  is  an  insult 
to  your  intelligence.  The  first  witness  described  the  scene  at  the 
Mountain  Meadows  a  few  days  after  the  occurrence,  and  the 
second  witness  a  few  weeks  later.  Their  testimony  established  the 
corpus  delicti.  Klingensmith,  a  former  bishop  of  the  Mormon 
church,  because  of  his  position,  was  made  a  conspicuous  actor  in 
the  crime.  Because  he  was  an  active  participant,  and  testified  to 
that  fact,  he  has  been  made  the  subject  of  vituperation  and  invec- 
tive, and  persistent  effort  is  made  to  break  down  his  testimony. 
If  it  were  all  stricken  out,  the  charge  is  still  conclusively  proved. 
The  prisoner's  counsel  have  asked  to  what  possible  use  a  man  like 
Klingensmith  can  be  put.  He  is  fit  to  obey  counsel,  a  cardinal  duty 
enjoined  upon  every  good  Saint.  He  is  fit  to  be  a  polygamist 
bishop,  and  help  build  up  "the  Kingdom."  He  is  fit  to  carry 
out  the  orders  of  his  ecclesiastical  superiors,  and  murder  and 
spoliate  at  the  command  of  alleged  God-chosen  servants.  So 
long  as  he  confined  himself  to  these  functions  he  was  fit  for  pre- 
ferment in  the  hierarchial  ranks  and  not  a  word  against  his  char- 
acter was  spoken,  but  now  that  he  has  come  out  from  the  charnel 
house,  and  has  shaken  his  soul  clear  of  the  delusions  that  held  it 
in  bondage,  and  shown  a  willingness  to  atone  for  his  past  offenses 
by  ridding  his  conscience  of  this  appalling  crime,  he  instantly  loses 
all  of  his  past  sanctity  and  becomes  "a  monster  of  such  hideous 
mien,  that  to  be  hated  needs  but  to  be  seen".' 

"  'From  the  accumulation  of  testimony  upon  the  point  there 
can  be  no  doubt  that  the  emigrants  surrendered  their  arms  and 
committed  to  Lee  the  care  of  their  young  children,  and  then  fol- 
lowed in  the  death  procession.  Defendant's  counsel  asked  the 
jury  to  believe  that  this  was  done  in  good  faith  with  the  intention 
of  rescuing  the  emigrants  from  the  Indians  who  were  menacing 
them.  Is  not  such  a  request  an  insult  to  common  intelligence? 
If  deliverance  was  meant,  why  compel  them  to  surrender  their 
arms?  Why  take  from  the  mother's  breast  the  nursing  baby? 
Why  lead  them  into  an  ambuscade  of  Indians?  The  whole  exe- 
cution of  the  plot  shows  murderous  design,  and  to  believe  other- 
wise is  to  do  violence  to  common  sense.  When  the  victims  were 
slain,  the  whites  dispersed  unmolested  to  their  homes.  If  the 
Indians  had  committed  the  massacre,  their  passions  being  whetted 
with  blood,  they  would  have  further  gratified  their  savage  rage 
by  an  assault  upon  the  white  men  present.  But  the  testimony 
shows  that,  instead,  Indians  tricked  out  in  the  clothing  of  the 
slain,  went  to  Cedar  City  and  washed  bloody  garments  in  the 
ditches,'  and  that  there  was  no  excitement  among  them,  and  none 
of  the  citizens  feared  any  attack ;  that  Brigham  Young  was  gov- 
ernor of  the  Territory  and  exofficio  Indian  superintendent.  Had 
he  been  an  honest  and  faithful  official — had  be  been  a  Christian 

133 


gentleman — he  would  have  diligently  collected  the  vast  property 
of  the  emigrants  and  sold  it — at  the  high  prices  that  such  property 
brought  at  that  time  in  the  Territory — for  the  benefit  of  the  inno- 
cent little  children,  made  fatherless  and  motherless  by  the  Mor- 
mon fiends  who  ruthlessly  murdered  their  fathers,  mothers,  and 
their  older  brothers  and  sisters.  But  instead  of  performing  that 
official  and  humane  duty,  he  suffered  much  of  the  property  to 
be  sold  at  public  auction  to  the  assassins  of  the  emigrants,  and 
many  of  the  cattle  to  be  branded  with  the  church  brand. 

"  'If  there  is  a  man  on  this  jury  who  has  been  through  that 
sink  of  iniquity,  the  endowment  house,  and  wears  endowment 
garments  on  his  limbs,  he  will  not  find  a  verdict  according  to  the 
law  and  testimony.  He  parted  with  his  manhood  when  he  swore 
blashphemous  oaths  which  bind  him  a  lifelong  slave  to  the  Mor- 
mon priesthood.  He  divested  himself  of  his  individuality,  and 
is  under  obligation  to  think  and  act  as  he  is  directed. 

"  'Judge  Sutherland  asks  the  question,  Why  did  not  the  wit- 
ness Klingensmith  and  Joel  White  object  to  the  massacre,  instead 
of  engaging  in  it?  I  answer,  simply  because  they  were  members 
of  an  organization  in  which  upon  their  oaths,  they  had  bound 
themselves  to  obey  the  priesthood,  and  in  which  they  had  been 
made  cowards — craven  cowards  and  obedient  serfs.  All  of  the 
defendants  attorneys  who  have  addressed  you,  have  denounced 
Bill  Hickman  and  have  severely  criticized  the  prosecution  for  sum- 
moning him  as  a  witness.  They  failed,  however,  to  state  what  has 
made  him  odious  and  notorious.  Gentlemen,  it  was  his  connection 
with  Brigham  Young,  and  the  crimes  which  he,  as  one  of  the  chief 
Danites  of  the  Mormon  church,  committed.  Both  Hickman,  and 
[also]  the  fifty  Mormons  who  participated  in  the  massacre,  have 
made  themselves  infamous  by  obeying  their  church  leaders.  I 
have  no  doubt  that  both  Lee  and  the  church  officials  of  Cedar  City 
under  whose  orders  that  crime  was  committed,  at  the  October 
Conference  following  the  massacre,  which  they  attended,  as  usual, 
partoook  of  the  sacrament  commemorative  of  the  suffering  and 
death  of  Jesus  Christ,  whose  mission  on  the  earth  was  one  of 
mercy,  and  who  said  "Blessed  are  the  Merciful." 

"  'With  what  joy  must  the  beleaguered  emigrants  have  hailed 
the  approach  of  that  white  flag,  the  emblem  of  peace  and  mercy, 
in  the  hands  of  a  man  whose  white  skin  denoted  that  he  was  a 
Christian  and  coming  to  their  rescue  ?  My  God  !  what  a  sad  mis- 
take they  made  when  they  trusted  that  man  who,  with  a  lying 
tongue,  induced  them  to  give  up  their  arms  which  was  their  only 
means  of  defense;  and  Oh!  what  must  have  been  their  horror 
when  the  onslaught  upon  them  in  their  defenseless  condition  was 
began  by  the  white  men  whose  protection  had  been  promised, 
and  by  the  secreted  Indians  upon  their  helpless  women  and  chil- 
dren. The  horror  of  the  scene  is  indescribable.  About  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty- five  of  the  survivors  of  the  emigrants  were 
foully  betrayed  under  a  flag  of  truce,  and  in  the  space  of  a  few 

134 


minutes  after  the  assault  upon  them  began  they  were  ruthlessly 
murdered  by  fifty-two  white  men  called  "Latter-day  Saints," 
aided  by  an  ambuscade  of  Indians.  The  evidence  shows  that  the 
Mormons  in  the  vincinity  of  the  massacre,  under  the  influence 
of  the  infamous  organization  to  which  they  had  subjected  them- 
selves, had  lost  their  manhood  and  had  become  so  servile  that  they 
made  no  effort  to  prevent  that  awful  crime,  and  when  those  who 
participated  in  it  were  ordered  out  by  their  church  leaders,  they 
went  to  the  scene  of  the  slaughter  like  dumb  cattle;  and  when 
they  were  at  the  Meadows,  as  testified  to  by  young  Pierce,  Pol- 
lock and  other  witnesses,  the  talk  among  them  was  that  the  emi- 
grants were  to  be  destroyed ;  and  yet  not  one  among  that  assem- 
blage of  at  least  fifty-two  members  of  the  so-called  Church  of 
Jesus  Christ  of  Latter-day  Saints  possessed  manhood  enough  to 
make  the  least  objection  to  the  commission  of  that  atrocious 
crime. 

"  'What  was  done  with  the  property  of  the  emigrants?  The 
evidence  shows  that  it  was  sold  at  auction  and  bought  by  the  in- 
habitants of  Cedar  City ;  that  the  bulk  of  it  was  appropriated  by 
the  men  who  murdered  the  parents  of  those  little  orphan  children. 
I  arraign  Brigham  Young  as  an  accessory  of  the  massacre,  be- 
cause considering  the  power  he  had  over  his  people,  no  man, 
bishop,  or  any  other  subordinate  officer,  would  have  dared  to 
take  such  an  important  step,  or  engage  in  such  heinous  scheme, 
if  he  hadn't  the  direct  or  implied  sanction  of  the  head  of  the 
church.  The  evidence  shows  that  the  leaders  in  that  massacre 
were  leaders  in  the  Mormon  church  at  Cedar  City.  I  not  only 
arraign  Brigham  Young  as  accessory  before  the  fact  of  the 
massacre,  but  also  as  having  violated  his  oath  of  office  in  failing 
to  do  what  both  his  official  duty  and  the  common  dictates  of 
humanity  required  of  him,  which  was  to  prevent  the  little  children 
who  were  saved  from  being  robbed ;  to  have  the  property  of  the 
emigrants  collected  and  sold  and  the  proceeds  appropriated  to  the 
nurture  and  education  of  those  children.  In  place  of  doing  that, 
this  man  with  almost  omnipotent  power  over  his  people,  when  the 
news  was  carried  to  him  that  the  fathers,  mothers  and  friends  of 
those  children  had  been  butchered  like  dogs  by  Latter-day  Saints 
and  savage  Indians  combined,  ordered  the  property  to  be  de- 
livered to  John  D.  Lee,  one  of  the  chief  perpetrators  of  the  mas- 
sacre. 

"  'Gentlemen  of  the  jury,  in  concluding,  I  again  say,  as  I 
said  before,  I  do  not  know  whether  any  members  of  the  Mormon 
church  are  on  this  jury,  or  even  one  man  who  has  been  bound 
by  the  shackles  and  subjected  to  the  influence  which  led  Klingen- 
smith,  Joel  White,  William  Young,  and  each  and  all  of  the  others 
engaged  in  that  massacre,  to  march  out  to  the  Mountain  Meadows 
and  ruthlessly  bathe  their  hands  in  the  blood  of  offenseless  men, 
women  and  children.  If  any  one  of  this  jury  is  a  member  of  the 
Mormon  church,  I  don't  expect  any  verdict.  In  short,  if  any  mem- 

135 


her  of  this  jury  has  upon  him  the  endowment  garments  received 
in  that  iniquitous  grease-vat,  the  endowment  house,  where  he 
took  an  oath  of  obedience  and  laid  down  his  individuality,  no  evi- 
dence can  be  introduced  in  a  case  like  this  one  that  would  induce 
such  a  man,  as  long  as  he  is  under  that  pernicuous  influence,  to 
find  a  verdict  of  guilty,  and  I  do  not  expect  it'." 

The  evidence  at  the  first  trial  of  Lee  as  conclusively 
showed  his  guilt  as  the  second  one  did.  Mr.  Bishop  in  his 
preface  to  Lee's  confession,  stated,  respecting  these  trials :  , 

"Mormonism  prevented  conviction  at  the  first  trial,  and  at 
the  second,  Mormonism  caused  conviction — Brigham  and  his 
worshipers  deserted  Lee  and  marked  him  as  a  victim  that 
should  suffer  to  save  the  church  from  censure  on  account  of 
the  crimes  it  had  ordered." 

I  have  not  the  least  doubt  that  to  appease  the  universal 
adverse  sentiment  shown  by  the  general  expressions  of  disgust 
and  indignation  by  the  newspapers  of  the  country  caused  by 
the  exposures  made  at  the  first  trial,  Brigham  Young  entered 
into  an  arrangement  with  District  Attorney  Howard,  that  a 
Mormon  jury  should  be  impaneled  to  convict  Lee ;  that  the 
affidavits  of  Brigham  Young  and  Smith,  and  their  letters 
should  be  offered  in  evidence  by  Howard,  and  that  he  should 
exonerate  the  authorities  of  the  Mormon  church  of  complicity 
in  the  massacre.  Mr.  Howard,  when  he  offered  these  affi- 
davits and  letters,  said,  "These  papers  have  been  submitted  to 
the  attorneys  for  the  defense,  and  they  consent  to  their  intro- 
duction. I  now  file  them  and  place  them  in  evidence."  Mr. 
Bishop,  one  of  the  attorneys  of  Lee,  replied  as  follows : 

"May  it  please  your  honor:  While  denying  that  these 
documents  are  legal  evidence,  we  wish  to  see  what  length  the 
prosecution  will  go  in  this  court  against  the  defendant  by  law 
or  without  law.  Our  opinion  as  attorneys  is  opposed  to  the 
evidence,  but  our  client  insists  that  it  be  admitted.  Let  the 
evidence  go  in,  and  with  it  all  besides  that  the  authorities  of 
the  church  at  Salt  Lake  City  have  unearthed  for  the  perusal 
of  Brother  Howard.  We  now  know  we  are  fighting  the  in- 
dictment, and  also  the  secret  forces  and  power  of  the  Mormon 
church." 

Mr.  Howard  knew  that  the  prisoner  was  entitled, 
under  the  provisions  of  the  constitution,  to  a  trial  by  an  im- 
partial jury,  and  to  be  confronted  by  the  witnesses  against 
him ;  that  he  had  a  right  to  cross-examine  the  witnesses  of  the 

136 


prosecution,  and  that  said  ex  parte  affidavits  and  letters  were 
incompetent,  and  had  no  possible  bearing  in  the  case;  that 
their  only  effect  was  to  place  on  record  a  denial  of  any  compli- 
city of  either  Brigham  or  Smith  in  the  commission  of  the  mas- 
sacre. No  doubt  they  were  given  to  Howard,  and  offered  by 
him  in  evidence  in  pursuance  of  a  previous  arrangement  with 
Young  and  Smith,  or  with  some  one  representing  them. 

Daniel  H.  Wells,  one  of  the  witnesses  whose  memory  was 
so  bad  in  the  Reynolds  case,  went  to  Beaver  City,  about  two 
hundred  and  fifty  miles  from  Salt  Lake  City,  to  testify  in  the 
case ;  and  the  only  testimony  given  by  him  was  that  "In  1857 
John  D.  Lee  was  Farmer  to  the  Indians,  was  popular  with 
them,  and  had  previously  held  the  office  of  major  in  the  mili- 
tia." These  facts  were  of  no  importance  to  the  prosecution 
whatever,  and  could  have  been  easily  proved  by  hundreds  of 
persons  living  in  the  vicinity  of  Beaver  City  where  the  trial 
was  held. 

The  jury  which  convicted  Lee  was  composed  exclusively 
of  Mormons,  all  the  Gentiles  who  qualified  on  their  voir  dire 
having  been  peremptorily  challenged  by  Howard.  This  was 
not  a  natural  thing  for  any  district  attorney  to  do,  but  his 
object  for  so  doing  was  evidently  to  have  Lee  convicted  by 
a  Mormon  jury.  Howard,  in  his  closing  speech  to  the  jury, 
said  that  he  had  unanswerable  evidence  that  the  authorities 
of  the  Mormon  church  did  not  know  of  the  butchery  till  after 
it  was  committed,  and  that  then  Lee  had  knowingly  mis- 
represented the  facts  to  President  Young,  seeking  to  keep  him 
in  ignorance  of  the  truth. 

When  I  learned  from  the  newspapers  that  all  the  Gentiles 
had  been  challenged  off  the  jury,  and  that  Daniel  H.  Wells  was 
present  at  the  trial,  I  stated  then  that  John  D.  Lee  was 
doomed ;  and  while  there  was  no  shadow  of  doubt  of  his  guilt 
he  was  entitled  to  a  trial  by  a  jury  which  was  not  subject  to 
any  outside  influence,  and  had  not  been  packed  for  the  purpose 
of  securing  his  conviction  by  a  Mormon  jury.  I  do  not  believe 
that  any  Mormon  jury  at  that  time,  or  any  jury  before  Con- 
gress changed  the  judicial  system  of  the  Territory,  would 
have  convicted  Lee,  or  any  one  of  the  perpetrators  of  the 
numerous  homicides  which  for  many  years  had  been  commit- 
ted with  impunity  in  the  Territory,  unless  its  members  had 

137 


been  either  directly  or  indirectly  advised  that  it  was  the  wish 
of  the  high  priesthood  that  it  should  be  done.  Would  the 
high  priesthood  interfere  with  the  jury?  This  question  is 
answered  by  the  following  sermons  of  Jedediah  M.  Grant,  one  of 
Brigham's  counselors,  reported  in  Vol.  Ill,  page  233,  of  the 
Journal  of  Discourses: 

"Last  Sunday  the  president  chastised  some  of  the  apostles 
and  bishops  who  were  on  the  grand  jury.  Did  he  fully  succeed 
in  clearing  away  the  fog  which  surrounded  them  and  in  re- 
moving the  blindness  from  their  eyes?  No,  for  they  could  go 
to  their  rooms  and  again  disagree,  though  to  their  credit  it 
must  be  admitted  that  a  brief  explanation  made  them  unani- 
mous in  their  action.  Not  long  ago  I  heard  that  in  a  certain 
case,  the  Traverse  jury,  were  eleven  to  one,  and  what  is  more 
singular,  the  one  was  alone  right  in  his  views  of  the  case. 
Seven  got  into  the  fog  to  suck  and  eat  the  filth  of  a  Gentile 
court/' 

While  the  guilt  of  Lee  was  as  conclusively  proved  by  the 
evidence  at  his  first  trial  as  at  the  second  trial,  yet  at  the 
first  the  jury,  composed  of  three  Gentiles,  eight  Mormons  and 
one  jack-Mormon,  disagreed,  the  Gentiles  having  voted  for 
conviction,  and  the  Mormons  and  jack-Mormon  for  acquittal.5 

Elder  Chas.  W.  Penrose,  in  defending  the  church  and 
Brigham  Young  in  an  address  delivered  in  a  Mormon  assembly 
hall  in  Salt  Lake  City  on  October  26,  1884,  said : 

"At  the  second  trial  (of  Lee)  the  evidence  was  plain  and 
direct  as  to  his  complicity  in  the  massacre ;  he  was  convicted 
by  Mormon  testimony,  and  a  verdict  of  guilty  was  brought 
in  against  him  by  a  Mormon  jury.  I  have  a  list  of  their  names, 
all  members  of  the  Mormon  church.  Strange  thing,  was  it 
not,  to  have  a  Mormon  jury?  It  would  be  singular  in  these 
times.  But  John  D.  Lee  was  convicted  by  a  Mormon  jury,  a 
thing  said  by  some  of  the  newspapers,  extracts  which  I  have 
read  to  you,  to  be  impossible." 

The  impaneling  of  that  Mormon  jury  and  the  conviction 
of  Lee  by  it  was,  indeed,  strange — amazingly  strange.  One 
day  in  1867,  when  I  was  walking  up  Main  street  in  Salt  Lake 
city  with  John  Chislet,  one  of  the  persons  who  crossed  the 

'During  the  long  contest  which  was  waged  between  the  Gentiles  and  Mormons, 
there  were  a  few  (comparatively)  mercenary  and  fawning  Gentile  residents  of  the 
Territory-  These  were  called  jack-Mormons,  because  they  tried  to  obtain  from  the 
Mormon  masses  business  favors  and  patronage  by  fulsome  laudation  of  the  Priesthood, 
and  by  espousing  the  cause  of  the  Church  party,  and  denouncing  the  measures  of  the 
Liberal  party. 

138 


plains  with  one  of  the  celebrated  hand-cart  trains,  but  who 
afterwards  apostatized  from  the  church,  he  pointed  to  a  car- 
riage which  was  approaching  at  a  few  yards  distance,  and  said : 
"That  man  in  the  carriage  with  Brigham  Young  is  John  D. 
Lee,  the  leader  of  the  Mountain  Meadows  massacre,  and  the 
carriage  in  which  they  are  riding  is  one  which  the  emigrants 
had  owned."  That  was  the  first  time  I  had  seen  Lee.  The 
carriage  was  accompanied  by  Brigham's  mounted,  sacred, 
guard.  The  next  time  I  saw  Lee  was  at  his  first  trial,  and  I 
recognized  him  as  the  man  whom  I  had  before  seen  in  the 
carriage  with  Brigham  Young. 

Whitney's  version  of  the  massacre  is  most  disgusting  to 
any  one  conversant  with  the  facts.  He  not  only  libels  the 
emigrants  himself,  but  also  gives  currency  to  slanders  invented 
and  circulated  by  the  wretches  who  murdered  them.  In  Vol. 
I,  pages  693,  694,  695,  is  the  following: 

"Whatever  had  been  the  conduct  of  these  companies  when 
they  encountered  the  Utah  outposts  of  the  East  there  seems 
to  be  no  question  that  not  long  after  their  arrival  in  Salt  Lake 
valley  they  gave  abundant  evidence  of  their  hostility  and  vin- 
dictiveness. 

"During  their  entire  journey  through  the  Territory  they 
appear  to  have  conducted  themselves  in  the  most  offensive 
manner.  They  swaggered  through  the  town  declaring  their 
intention,  as  soon  as  they  should  have  conveyed  their  women 
and  children  to  a  place  of  safety,  to  return  with  military  force 
sufficient  to  complete  such  destruction  of  the  Mormons  as  the 
United  States  soldiery  might  leave  unfinished. 

"They  averred  that  the  murdered  leaders  of  the  church 
had  received  their  tardy  deserts,  and  gave  the  impression,  if 
they  did  not  positively  boast,  that  in  their  company  were  hands 
which  had  been  reddened  with  the  Prophet's  blood.  Nor  were 
their  offenses  confined  to  harrowing  and  insulting  words. 
They  acted  like  a  band  of  marauders,  preying  upon  the  posses- 
sions of  those  through  whose  country  they  traveled,  and  com- 
mitted all  manner  of  petty  indignities  upon  person  and  prop- 
erty. Still  greater  crimes  were  charged  to  them  by  the  In- 
dians. They  were  said  to  have  not  only  wantonly  shot  some 
of  the  braves,  but  were  known  to  have  poisoned  beef  where 
the  savages  would  likely  get  it.  Several  deaths  attributed  to 
this  cause  occurred  among  the  Indians  near  Fillmore,  and 
numbers  of  their  animals  perished  through  drinking  water  from 
springs  poisoned  by  the  emigrants  when  about  breaking  camp. 
*  Against  this  company,  as  stated,  was  laid  the 
fearful  charge  of  injecting  poison  into  the  carcass  of  one  of 

139 


their  oxen,  first  having  learned  that  the  Indians  would  be 
likely  to  eat  the  meat,  and  of  throwing  packages  of  poison  in- 
to the  springs.  In  other  ways  they  contrived  to  render  them- 
selves obnoxious  to  the  settlers  and  hateful  to  the  natives." 

The  charges  there  made  are  absolutely  false;  but  if  they 
were  even  true,  making  them  either  as  a  justification  or  in 
mitigation  of  the  murder  of  innocent  women  and  children,  or 
even  of  the  murder  of  those  guilty  of  the  silly  charges,  was 
disgraceful  in  the  extreme.  If  any  such  crimes  had  in  fact  been 
committed,  the  proper  course  to  pursue  would  have  been  to 
punish  the  guilty  ones  by  due  process  of  law.  Most  of  the 
victims  of  that  class  of  homicides,  which  in  former  days  in  the 
Territory  were  committed  with  impunity,  were  also  foully 
slandered. 

Bancroft,  in  his  History  of  Utah,  on  page  550,  states : 

"It  was  Saturday  evening  when  the  Arkansas  families  en- 
camped at  the  Mountain  Meadows.  On  the  Sabbath-day  they 
rested,  and  at  the  usual  hour,  one  of  them  conducted  divine 
services  in  a  large  tent,  as  had  been  their  custom  throughout 
their  journey.  At  break  of  day  on  the  seventh  of  September 
while  the  men  were  lighting  their  campfires,  they  were  fired 
upon  by  Indians,  or  white  men  disguised  as  Indians,  and  more 
than  twenty  were  killed  or  wounded." 

Mr.  Forney,  as  superintendent  of  Indian  affairs,  made  a 
close  investigation  into  the  details  of  the  massacre,  and  in 
his  official  report  dated  at  Salt  Lake  City,  1859,  Senate  Docu- 
ment, No.  42,  36th  Congress,  First  Session,  pages  87-88,  said : 

"A  massacre  of  such  unparalleled  magnitude  on  American 
soil  must  sooner  or  later  demand  thorough  investigation.  I 
have  availed  myself  during  the  last  twelve  months  of  every 
opportunity  to  obtain  reliable  information  about  the  said  emi- 
grant company,  and  the  alleged  causes  of  and  circumstances 
which  led  to  their  treacherous  sacrifice. 

"Mormons  have  been  accused  of  aiding  the  Indians  in 
the  commission  of  this  crime.  I  commenced  my  inquiries  with- 
out prejudice  or  selfish  motive,  and  with  a  hope  that,  in  the 
progress  of  my  inquiries,  facts  would  enable  me  to  exculpate 
all  white  men  from  any  participation  in  this  tragedy,  and 
saddle  the  guilt  exclusive  upon  the  Indians,  but,  unfortunately, 
every  step  in  my  inquiries  satisfied  me  that  the  Indians  acted 
only  a  secondary  part.  Conflicting  statements  were  made  to 
me  of  the  behavior  of  this  emigrant  company  while  traveling 
through  the  Territory.  I  have  accordingly  deemed  it  a  matter 
of  material  importance  to  make  a  strict  inquiry  to  obtain  re- 

140 


liable  information  on  this  subject;  not  that  bad  conduct  on 
their  part  could  in  any  degree  palliate  the  enormity  of  the 
crime,  or  be  regarded  as  any  extenuation.  My  object  was 
common  justice  to  the  surviving  orphans.  The  result  of  my 
inquiries  enables  me  to  say  that  the  company  conducted  them- 
selves with  propriety.  They  were  camped  several  days  at 
Corn  creek,  Fillmore  valley,  adjacent  to  one  of  our  Indian 
farms. 

"Persons  have  informed  me  that,  whilst  there  encamped, 
they  poisoned  a  large  spring  with  arsenic  and  the  meat  of  a 
dead  ox  with  strychnine.  This  ox  died,  unquestionably,  from 
eating  a  poisonous  weed  which  grows  in  most  of  the  valleys 
here.  Persons  in  the  southern  part  of  the  Territory  told 
me  last  spring,  when  on  a  southern  trip,  that  from  fifteen  to 
twenty  Pahvant  Indians  (of  those  on  Corn  creek  farm)  died 
from  drinking  the  water  of  the  poisoned  spring  and  eating 
of  the  poisoned  meat.  Other  equally  unreasonable  stories 
were  told  me  about  these  unfortunate  people. 

"That  an  emigrant  company,  as  respectable  as  I  believe 
this  was,  would  carry  along  several  pounds  of  arsenic  and 
strychnine,  apparently  for  no  other  purpose  than  to  poison 
cattle  and  Indians,  is  too  improbable  to  be  true.  I  cannot  learn 
that  the  Pahvants  had  any  difficulty  with  these  people.  The 
massacre  took  place  only  about  one  hundred  miles  south  of 
Corn  creek,  and  yet  not  any  of  those  Indians  were  present. 
Bad  white  men  have  magnified  a  natural  cause  to  aid  them 
in  exciting  the  southern  Indians,  hoping  that,  by  so  doing, 
they  could  be  relied  upon  to  exterminate  the  said  company  and 
escape  detection  themselves." 

In  the  early  seventies,  when  I  was  in  Washington  trying 
to  procure  legislation  on  the  Utah  problem,  I  became  ac- 
quainted with  a  member  of  Congress  whose  name  I  have  for- 
gotten, from  the  district  in  Arkansas  from  which  the  emi- 
grants came.  I  drew  a  bill  granting  to  each  of  the  survivors 
of  the  massacre  a  quarter  section  of  the  public  land  of  the 
United  States  on  account  of  the  injustice  done  them  when 
small  children  by  the  governor  and  superintendent  of  Indian 
affairs  of  the  Territory  in  permitting  them  to  be  robbed  by  the 
assassins  of  their  parents.  That  member  introduced  the  bill, 
but  it  was  not  passed. 

I  stated  to  him  the  charges  which  had  been  made  against 
the  emigrants,  and  it  made  him  very  indignant.  He  said  that 
the  charges  were  infamous  slander,  because  the  families  and 
persons  composing  the  company  were  honest,  moral  and  most 
highly  respected  in  the  community  in  which  they  had  resided. 

141 


He  also  stated  to  me  in  substance  the  following  respecting  the 
emigrants :  "Two  young  men  went  from  Arkansas  to  Cali- 
fornia in  the  early  days  of  the  gold  excitement ;  that  they  were 
very  successful  and  acquired  considerable  wealth;  and  that 
they  either  purchased  or  procured  an  option  on  one  of  the 
large  Mexican  grants  in  Southern  California;  that  they  re- 
turned to  their  native  State  and  induced  a  number  of  their 
relatives  and  neighbors,  who  were  in  comfortable  circum- 
stances, to  sell  their  homes  and  property  and  form  a  com- 
pany to  colonize  the  land  mentioned;  that  the  train  made  up 
by  them  was  not  loaded  with  the  kind  of  merchandise  usually 
transported  over  the  plains,  but  with  the  various  articles  ne- 
cessary for  household  purposes,  and  agricultural  implements, 
and  that  a  considerable  number  of  blooded  horses  and  cat- 
tle for  breeding  purposes  were  selected  and  bought.  The 
amount  invested  by  the  emigrants  in  the  enterprise,  he  stated, 
must  have  been  considerably  more  than  one  hundred  thousand 
dollars. 

James  H.  Berry,  a  United  States  Senator  from  Arkansas, 
in  a  speech  made  by  him  in  the  Smoot  case,  reported  in  the  Con- 
gressional Record  of  February  12,  1907,  said : 

"In  1857  I  lived  in  the  County  of  Carroll,  State  of  Arkansas. 
In  the  spring  of  that  year  there  left  that  county,  and  two  adjoin- 
ing counties,  between  a  hundred  and  forty  and  a  hundred  and 
fifty — including  men,  women  and  children — emigrants  for  Cali- 
fornia. They  consisted  of  the  best  citizens  of  that  county.  It 
was  a  large  train.  It  excited  much  interest  throughout  the  section 
of  country  from  which  they  went.  They  had  about  600  head  of 
cattle,  several  mule  teams,  a  number  of  wagons,  and  each  head  of 
a  family  had  more  or  less  money ;  how  much  I  do  not  know.  Late 
in  the  fall  or  the  early  winter  the  news  came  back  that  the  train 
had  been  assaulted  by  the  Indians  far  out  west,  and  that  every  soul 
had  perished.  Later  on  there  came  the  news  that  some,  the 
children — how  many  we  did  not  at  that  time  know — were  saved, 
and  that  they  were  in  the  hands  of  the  Mormons  in  Utah.  Our 
senators  and  representatives  here  called  upon  the  Interior  De- 
partment. An  agent,  a  Mr.  Forney,  was  sent  there  by  the  Com- 
missioner of  Indian  Affairs.  He  gathered  those  children  to- 
gether, sixteen  of  them,  who  had  been  preserved  from  the  mas- 
sacre on  that  fatal  13th  [llth]  day  of  September.  He  brought 
those  children  back  to  Leavenworth,  and  there  Colonel  Mitchell 
of  our  county  went  and  met  them  and  took  them  in  charge.  I  was 
a  boy  seventeen  years  old  on  that  day  when  they  were  brought  to 
the  village  court  house.  I  saw  them  as  they  were  lined  up  on  the 

142 


benches,  and  Col.  Mitchell  told  the  people  whose  children  they 
were,  at  least,  whose  he  thought  they  were.  There  were  sixteen 
of  them.  One  little  girl,  I  distinctly  remember  had  an  arm  broken 
by  a  gunshot  wound.  It  had  not  united  and  the  arm  hung  dan- 
gling by  her  side.  I  have  seen  much  of  life  since  that  day ;  I 
have  seen  war  along  the  lines  of  the  Border  States  in  all  of  its 
horrors ;  but  no  scene  in  my  life  was  ever  so  impressed  upon  my 
mind  as  that  which  I  saw  there  that  day  presented  by  those  little 
children,  their  fathers,  mothers,  brothers  and  sisters  dead  on  the 
far-off  plains  of  Utah,  and  they  absolutely  without  means,  with 
no  human  being  to  look  to.  When  he  (Mr.  Forney)  first  got  the 
children,  he  reported  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  and  you  will 
find  it  in  the  report  of  the  Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs,  that 
they  had  been  so  frightened  and  scared  by  the  Mormons  that  he 
could  get  nothing  from  them ;  that  they  would  not  talk ;  and  that 
it  was  long  before  he  could  gain  their  confidence.  The  eldest  of 
them  was  five  or  six  years  of  age,  and  perhaps  there  was  one 
seven  years  of  age.  But  when  they  got  back  to  Leavenworth,  and 
from  there  to  Arkansas  they  had  lost  the  fears  that  had  been 
instilled  in  them  by  the  Mormon  families  in  which  they  had  lived. 
They  could  not  tell  much,  but  they  could  tell  that  white  men  and 
not  all  Indians  assisted  in  the  massacre.  They  could  tell  it  was 
a  white  man  who  came  into  their  corral  and  induced  the  emigrants 
to  give  up  their  guns  ;  that  it  was  white  men  that  drove  the  wagons 
in  which  they  rode ;  that  it  was  white  men  who  shot  the  wounded 
men  who  had  been  placed  in  one  of  the  wagons." 

The  children  were  sent  back  to  Arkansas  by  Mr.  Forney 
in  1859,  so  that  at  the  time  of  the  dreadful  occurrence  the  eldest  of 
them  were  only  four  or  five  years  old. 

The  speech  of  Senator  Berry,  even  if  there  was  no  other  evi- 
dence of  the  fact,  shows  beyond  question  the  high  character  of  the 
emigrants,  and  that  Whitney's  statements  respecting  them  are 
false. 

The  high  character  of  the  emigrants  is  also  stated  in  the  fol- 
lowing quotation  from  the  "Rocky  Mountain  Saints,"  by  Sten- 
house : 

"In  addition  to  the  ordinary  transportation  wagons  of  emi- 
grants, they  had  several  riding  carriages,  which  betokened  the 
social  class  of  life  in  which  some  of  the  emigrants  had  moved  be- 
fore setting  out  on  the  adventure  of  western  colonization.  *  * 
*  In  that  company  there  were  men,  women,  and  children  of 
every  age,  from  the  venerable  patriarch  to  the  baby  in  arms.  It 
was  a  bevy  of  families  related  to  each  other  by  the  ties  of  consan- 
guinity and  marriage,  with  here  and  there  in  the  train  a  neighbor 
who  desired  to  share  with  them  the  chances  of  fortune  in  the  pro- 
posed new  homes  on  the  golden  shores  of  the  Pacific.  One  of  their 

143 


number  had  been  a  Methodist  preacher,  and  probably  most  of  the 
adults  were  members  of  that  denomination.  They  were  moral  in 
language  and  conduct,  and  united  regularly  in  morning  and  even- 
ing prayers.  On  Sundays  they  did  not  travel,  but  observed  it  as  a 
day  of  sacred  rest  for  man  and  beast.  At  the  appointed  hour  of 
service,  this  brother-preacher  assembled  his  fellow  travelers  in  a 
large  tent  which  served  as  a  meeting  house  within  their  wagon 
circled  camp,  for  the  usual  religious  exercises,  and  there,  on  the 
low,  boundless  prairies,  or  in  higher  altitudes  at  the  base  of  snow- 
capped mountains,  he  addressed  them  as  fervently,  and  with  as 
much  soul-inspiring  faith,  as  if  his  auditory  had  been  seated  com- 
fortably within  the  old  church  walls  at  home;  and  they,  too, 
sang  their  hymns  of  praise  with  grateful,  feeling  souls,  and  with 
hearts  impressed  with  the  realization  that  man  was  but  a  speck 
in  the  presence  of  that  grand  and  limitless  nature  that  surrounded 
them,  and  of  which  they  were  but  a  microscopic  part.  Those  who 
passed  the  company  en  route,  or  traveled  with  them  a  part  of  the 
way,  were  favorably  impressed  with  their  society,  and  spoke  of 
them  in  the  kindest  terms  as  an  exceedingly  fine  company  of  emi- 
grants, such  as  was  seldom  seen  on  the  plains.  *  *  *  A 
gentleman,  a  friend  of  the  author,  traveled  with  the  Arkansas 
company  from  Fort  Bridger  to  Salt  Lake  City,  and  speaks  of  them 
in  the  highest  terms ;  he  never  traveled  with  more  pleasant  com- 
panions." 

Mrs.  Stenhouse,  in  her  work,  "Tell  It  All,"  said : 

"My  old  friend,  Eli  B.  Kelsey,  traveled  with  them  (the  emi- 
grants) from  Fort  Bridger  to  Salt  Lake  City,  and  he  spoke  of 
them  in  the  highest  terms  *  *  *  that  they  traveled  along  in 
the  most  orderly  fashion,  without  hurry  or  confusion.  On  Sunday 
they  rested,  and  one  of  their  number,  who  had  been  a  Methodist 
preacher,  conducted  divine  service." 

None  of  the  witnesses  in  the  Lee  trials  testified  that  the  emi- 
grants had  poisoned  the  springs  or  dead  animals,  except  in  the 
first  trial,  when  Elisha  Hoops,  who  was  placed  upon  the  stand  by 
the  defendant,  testified  that  in  September,  1857,  he  accompanied 
Geo.  A.  Smith,  Jesse  N.  Smith  and  ex-Bishop  Farnsworth  as  far 
north  as  Fillmore  ;that  they  camped  at  Corn  creek,  and  found  the 
Arkansas  emigrants  encamped  there  about  one  hundred  and  fifty 
yards  distant ;  that  an  ox  lay  dead  between  the  two  camps,  and  just 
as  witnesses'  party  was  about  to  start  he  saw  a  little  German  doc- 
tor who  belonged  to  the  emigrant  company,  draw  a  two-edged 
dagger  with  silver  guard,  such  as  gentlemen  carry,  and 
make  three  thrusts  into  the  ox;  that  he  produced  a 
small,  half -ounce  vial,  filled  with  a  light  colored  liquid, 

144 


which  he  poured  into  the  knife  holes.  On  cross-examination  by 
me,  he  stated  that  the  Smiths  and  Bishop  Farnsworth  were  in 
the  wagon  when  the  ox  was  tampered  with,  but  didn't  know  if 
they  saw  it ;  did  not  call  their  attention  to  it,  and  no  mention  was 
made  of  the  occurrence;  that  ten  or  fifteen  minutes  after  the 
German  had  "pizened"  the  ox,  some  Indians  came  up  and  dick- 
ered with  him  for  it.  They  finally  gave  him  buckskins,  and  then 
began  skinning  the  ox.  He  supposed  the  Indians  wanted  the  hide 
to  cut  up  into  soles  for  moccasins,  but  didn't  know  how  long  they 
were  flaying  the  animal  as  his  party  was  driving  away  at  the  time. 
The  story  told  by  Hoops  was  a  very  improbable  one.  He 
had  seen  the  little  German  doctor  at  work  upon  the  ox  just  as  his 
party  was  about  to  start.  Ten  or  fifteen  minutes  subsequently  a 
dicker  was  made  with  some  Indians  for  the  "infected"  carcass, 
which  the  Indians  must  have  known  that  the  emigrants  would 
soon  leave.  On  his  further  cross-examination,  his  efforts  to  ex- 
plain his  statement  were  so  ridiculous  that  he  became  a  laughing- 
stock in  the  courtroom.  He  further  stated  that  the  emigrants 
also  put  small  bags  of  "pizen"  in  the  spring  at  Corn  creek.  The 
volume  of  water  issuing  from  that  spring  was  so  great  that  it 
would  have  required  more  than  an  ordinary  amount  of  poison  to 
produce  any  deadly  effect.  Hoops  showed  himself  on  the  wit- 
ness stand,  not  only  to  be  a  false  witness,  but  a  fool  as  well. 

In  Vol.  I,  page  782,  of  Whitney's  history,  is  the  following : 
"Though  there  was  a  plenitude  of  rumors  as  to  the  persons 
who  knew  the  internal  history  of  the  massacre,  a  degree  of  dif- 
ficulty was  encountered  in  determining  who  were  actually  in 
possession  of  that  knowledge.  This  may  have  been  partly  owing 
to  the  obligation  of  secrecy  placed  upon  all  who  were  at  the 
Meadows  on  the  fatal  day  ;  but  the  greatest  impediment  in  the  way 
of  obtaining  the  requisite  information  was  the  action  of  the  offi- 
cers themselves  in  shaping  their  course,  as  Judge  Cradlebaugh 
had  formerly  done  for  a  crusade  against  the  Mormon  church  and 
its  leaders.  They  thereby  forced  members  of  that  organization 
to  stand  aloof  and  refrain  from  extending  the  aid  which  otherwise 
would  have  been  willingly  given.  It  was  vain  to  say  to  them  that 
only  guilty  persons  would  be  pursued.  They  knew  better.  The 
memory  of  the  conspiracy  of  the  McKean  clique  against  the 
church  leaders  which  had  been  overthrown  by  the  United  States 
Supreme  Court  was  yet  fresh  in  their  minds.  McKean  was  still 
in  office ;  a  prosecution  of  the  case  by  Baskin  was  prospective, 
while  Boreman,  judge  in  the  second  judicial  district,  with  U.  S. 
Attorney  Cary  and  U.  S.  Marshal  Maxwell  were  ardent  fol- 
lowers of  the  chief  justice  in  his  anti-Mormon  mission." 

145 


The  quiescence  of  the  Mormon  masses  regarding  the  massa- 
cre is  a  most  remarkably  anomaly ;  and  to  have  occurred  on  such 
an  occasion  in  an  American  community  is  shocking  and  unmis- 
takably discloses  the  viciousness  of  the  organization  of  which  the 
Mormon  masses,  at  the  time  of  the  massacre,  were  members. 
Their  quiescence,  however,  is  not  as  reprehensible  as  the  inaction 
of  the  high  church  officials  and  Mormon  territorial  officers, 
whose  duty  it  was  to  move  promptly  in  the  matter,  and  as  they 
could  have  easily  done  if  they  so  desired,  procure  the  arrest  and 
conviction  of  the  fiendish  communicants  of  their  church,  who, 
under  a  flag  of  truce,  treacherously  disarmed  and  foully  murdered 
the  innocent  and  confiding  emigrants.  Whitney  further  states : 

"The  first  reports  were  that  the  Indians,  several  hundred 
in  number,  had  attacked  and  slain  some  of  the  emigrants,  and  that 
men  were  needed  to  guard  the  remnant  and  bury  the  dead.  It  was 
upon  this  call  to  Colonel  Haight  that  John  M.  Higbee,  a  major  in 
one  of  the  battalions  of  militia,  on  Thursday  the  8th,  set  out  with 
a  body  of  men  and  wagons  for  the  Meadows.  His  force  was  not 
numerous,  and  the  men  were  not  all  supplied  with  arms.  Some 
were  teamsters  and  others  took  along  picks  and  spades.  They 
reached  their  destination  early  Wednesday  morning,  only  to  find 
that  there  had  been  no  such  bloodshed  as  had  been  reported,  and 
that  the  emigrants  were  making  good  their  defense.  But  they 
found  an  angry  host  of  Indians  bent  on  bloodshed,  and  outnum- 
bering ten  to  one  of  their  own  forces.  An  attempt  by  the  militia 
to  assist  the  emigrants  would  have  transferred  to  themselves  the 
Indian  attack.  During  that  day  and  the  next,  awaiting  further 
orders,  they  lay  in  camp,  near  to  but  out  of  sight  of  the  entrenched 
emigrants,  who  were  on  the  other  side  of  a  small  hill.  Thursday 
brought  slight  reinforcements,  but  by  this  time  more  Indians  had 
arrived  upon  the  scene.  The  whites  who  were  from  Santa  Clara 
county  believed  as  did  Higbee's  men,  that  they  were  summoned 
there  on  a  mission  of  mercy  to  bury  the  dead  and  protect  the  sur- 
vivors, but  the  fury  of  the  Indians  was  uncontrollable." 

In  the  light  of  Lee's  confession,  and  the  unrefuted  evidence 
at  both  trials  of  Lee,  which  not  only  corroborated  the  material 
facts  contained  in  that  confession,  but  also  conclusively  showed 
that  the  massacre  was  ordered  and  planned  by  Mormon  church  of- 
ficials who  were  also  officers  of  the  militia,  and  was  treacher- 
ously and  inhumanely  executed  by  the  militia  and  an  Indian  auxil- 
iary force  under  the  leadership  of  John  D.  Lee.  Whitney's  ver- 
sion of  the  massacre  is  "as  dishonest  as  it  is  despicable,"  and  again 
verifies  the  assertion  of  Brigham  Young,  heretofore  referred  to, 
that  "we  have  the  greatest  and  smoothest  liars  in  the  world." 

146 


It  is  not  reasonable  that  the  subordinate  church  authorities 
at  Cedar  City  would  have  taken  steps  to  murder  the  emigrants 
had  they  not  been  instructed  to  do  so  by  an  order  of  their  su- 
perior officers.  Of  course  such  an  order  was  not,  and  could  not 
be  shown,  except  by  circumstantial  or  oral  evidence.  This  could 
have  been  furnished  only  by  the  church  officer  at  Cedar  City 
to  whom  it  was  (in  my  opinion)  communicated  by  George  A. 
Smith  on  his  southern  trip,  made  for  that  purpose ;  but  to  have 
so  testified  he  would  have  violated  his  oath-bound  endowment 
covenants  by  disclosing  the  fact,  and  thereby  subjected  himself  to 
the  fearful  penalty  he  would  incur  for  violating  that  oath. 

There  was  no  direct  evidence  in  the  trials  of  Lee,  nor 
is  it  stated  in  Lee's  confession,  that  any  order  was  given 
either  by  Brigham  or  Smith  to  massacre  the  emigrants.  Isaac 
C.  Haight,  of  Cedar  City,  was  the  president  of  the  Parowan 
stake  of  Zion,  and  as  such  was  the  chief  or  presiding  officer 
of  the  local  church  government  in  the  Mormon  settlements  in 
the  vicinity  of  the  Mountain  Meadows.  It  was  shown  by  the 
evidence  in  said  trials  that  he  was  the  first  and  chief  insti- 
gator of  the  massacre,  and  soon  after  the  visit  of  George  A. 
Smith  began  to  move  in  the  matter  and  was  an  active  parti- 
cipant until  the  massacre  was  accomplished.  He  afterward 
permitted  much  of  the  property  to  be  sold  at  auction  in  Cedar 
City,  where  he  resided,  and  the  grain  which  was  received  in 
payment  for  most  of  it  to  be  put  in  the  church  tithing  house 
granaries.  The  subordinate  church  officers  who  participated 
in  the  massacre  were  John  M.  Higbee,  first  counselor  to 
Haight,  and  William  H.  Dame  and  Philip  Klingensmith,  who 
were  bishops.  Lee  was  not  a  church  officer,  but  being  govern- 
ment Indian  farmer,  he  was  the  only  person  who  could  procure 
the  assistance  of  the  Indians,  and  was  selected  to  perform  that 
service.  That  both  Lee  and  the  other  Mormon  laymen  acted 
under  the  orders  of  Haight,  and  which  were  sanctioned  by  his 
superior  church  officials  clearly  appears  from  the  facts  and 
circumstance's  disclosed.  It  is  not  a  reasonable  hypothesis  that 
they  voluntarily  assembled  to  commit  such  a  horrible  crime 
without  being  commanded  to  do  so  by  some  person  or  per- 
sons whose  commands  they  were  obligated  to  obey.  I  have 
before  shown  the  nature  of  the  obligations  by  which  members 
of  the  Mormon  church  bind  themselves,  on  their  oaths,  to 
obey  the  priesthood  in  both  temporal  and  spiritual  affairs. 

147 


When  Haight  and  his  subordinate  church  officers  determined 
to  destroy  the  emigrants,  to  accomplish  it  the  services  of  a 
sufficient  number  of  their  co-religionists  was  necessary.  There- 
fore the  order  under  which  the  latter  assembled  and  acted  was 
an  obvious  and  essential  one,  and  was  stated  by  Lee,  in  his 
confession,  as  follows: 

"Those  who  were  connected  with  the  massacre,  and  took 
part  in  the  transaction,  were  moved  by  a  religious  duty.  All 
were  acting  under  the  orders  of  and  by  command  of  their 
church  leaders.  The  immediate  order  for  killing  the  emi- 
grants came  from  those  in  authority  at  Cedar  City.  I  and 
those  with  me  acted  by  virtue  of  positive  orders  from  Brother 
Haight  and  his  associates.  Before  starting  on  my  mission 
to  the  Mountain  Meadows,  I  was  told  by  Brother  Haight  that 
his  orders  to  me  were  the  result  of  full  consultation  with 
Bishop  Dame,  and  all  in  authority." 

This  statement  was  corroborated  in  the  trials  of  Lee.  It 
is  not  probable  that  Haight,  who  was  the  first  one  to  move  in 
the  matters  at  Cedar  City,  and  so  soon  after  the  visit  of  Geo. 
A.  Smith,  acted  without  the  sanction  of  his  superior  church 
officers  at  Salt  Lake  City.  After  Smith  made  his  journey  to 
Cedar  City,  the  church  authorities  in  the  various  settlements 
through  which  he  passed  and  preached,  began  to  slander  the 
emigrants  and  forbid  the  members  of  the  church  furnishing 
any  of  them  with  necessary  supplies.  While  there  is 
no  direct  evidence  that  Smith  ordered  the  massacre,  there  is 
very  strong  circumstantial  evidence  that  an  order  for  the 
massacre  of  the  emigrants  was  delivered  by  Smith  at  the  time 
he  visted  Cedar  City,  to  President  Haight.  Unless  Haight 
revealed  the  fact,  which  it  is  improbable  he  would  do  except 
to  his  subordinate  church  officers  on  their  pledge  of  secrecy, 
it  could  not  be  shown.  It  is  not  therefore  a  matter  of  surprise 
that  no  direct  evidence  that  such  an  order  was  given,  was 
elicted  at  the  trials  of  Lee.  The  omissions  and  commissions 
of  Brigham  Young  hereinbefore  stated  conclusively  show 
that  he  was  accessory  to  the  massacre  of  the  offenseless  emi- 
grants at  the  Mountain  Meadows.  There  were  many  more 
than  sixteen  children  in  the  emigrant  train,  and  only  those 
who  were  old  enough  to  coherently  state  the  facts  of  the  mas- 
sacre if  they  had  been  permitted  to  live,  were  killed.  Many 
of  those  not  slaughtered  were  too  young  to  know  even  their 
own  names.  It  appears  from  Senator  Berry's  speech,  before 

148 


quoted,  the  parentage  of  the  unfortunate  children  who  were 
saved  was  not  known,  but  merely  "supposed."  By  a  most 
revolting  massacre  and  heartless  robbery,  planned  and  execut- 
ed under  the  leadership  of  high  officials  of  an  organization 
claimed  to  be  the  "Church  of  Jesus  Christ,"  those  innocent 
children  were  left  "absolutely  without  means,  with  no  human 
being  to  look  to."  "If  there  isn't  a  Hell,  there  ought  to  be." 

Whitney,  in  his  history,  Vol.  I,  page  707,  states  that  "the 
orphans,  seventeen  in  number,  ranging  in  age  from  three 
months  to  seven  years,  were  taken  to  Cedar  City  and  distrib- 
uted among  the  families  in  the  vicinity." 


14? 


CHAPTER  XI. 
The  Danites,  or  "Destroying  Angels." 

The  Danites  were  an  organization  in  the  Mormon  church. 
Its  existence  was  stated  by  Bill  Hickman  in  his  confession 
made  to  me.  He  gave  me  the  names  of  more  than  a  score  of 
its  active  members,  among  whom  were  a  number  of  reputed 
notorious  Danite  assassins.  He  stated  that  the  members  were 
bound  by  their  covenants  to  execute  the  orders  of  the  priest- 
hood, and  that  when  a  direct  order  or  intimation  was  given 
to  "use  up"  anyone,  it  was  always  executed  by  one  or  more  of 
the  members,  according  to  the  circumstances  of  the  case. 
That  such  an  organization  existed  is  conclusively  shown  by 
the  numerous  mysterious  murders  which  were  never  investi- 
gated by  the  executive  officers  of  the  Territory,  or  any  attempt 
made  to  prosecute  the  guilty  parties.  The  Mormon  sermons, 
the  confessions  of  Hickman  and  Lee,  and  numerous  other 
circumstances  made  plain  its  existence.  Hickman  confessed 
to  me  that  he  personally  knew  of  thirteen  persons  having  been 
murdered,  some  of  them  by  him,  and  others  by  various  Dan- 
ites; that  at  one  time  he  murdered  a  man  by  the  name  of 
Buck  at  the  personal  request  of  Brigham  Young.  Hickman's 
statement  of  this  affair  in  his  published  confession  is  substan- 
tially the  same  as  given  to  me,  in  fuller  detail,  and  is  as  fol- 
lows: 

"A  messenger  came  from  the  city  and  told  me  I  was 
wanted  at  Brigham  Young's  office  immediately.  I  mounted 
my  horse  and  was  in  town  in  an  hour,  and  went  to  Young's 
office.  He  asked  me  if  I  had  'seen  the  boys.'  I  asked  him 
'What  boys?'  and  he  answered  'George  Grant  and  William 
Kimball.'  I  told  him  I  had  not.  I  then  told  him  I  had  got 
word  to  come  to  his  office,  and  wished  to  know  what  was 
wanted.  He  answered,  'The  boys  have  made  a  bad  job  of 
trying  to  put  a  man  out  of  the  way.  They  all  got  drunk, 
bruised  up  a  fellow,  and  he  got  away  from  them  at  the  point 
of  the  mountain,  came  back  to  this  city,  and  is  telling  all  that 
happened,  which  is  making  a  big  stink.'  He  said  I  must  'get 
him  out  of  the  way,  and  use  him  up.'  He  told  me  to  go  and 
find  the  boys,  meaning  Generals  Grant  and  Kimball,  both  be- 
ing acting  generals  in  the  militia  at  that  time,  and  arrange 

150 


BILL  HICKMAN. 


things  with  them  so  as  to  have  him  taken  care  of.  I  found 
them,  and  they  told  me  O.  P.  Rockwell  [a  notorious  Danite], 
with  a  party,  had  made  a  bad  job  and  wanted  help,  and  I  had 
been  sent  for  to  wind  it  up.  Said  they,  'did  Brigham  tell  you 
what  was  up?'  I  told  them  he  did,  and  had  sent  me  to  them 
to  arrange  things.  They  told  me  they  had  things  fixed ;  that 
when  the  party  to  which  this  man  belonged  first  came  into 
the  Territory,  all  had  stopped  twelve  miles  north  of  the  city, 
and  remained  several  weeks  in  the  neighborhood  where  George 
Dalton  lived ;  that  Dalton  was  in  town,  and  they  had  got  him 
to  see  this  man  (whose  name  I  never  heard,  only  he  was 
called  'Buck')  and  take  him  home  with  him,  for  he  had  confi- 
dence in  Dalton.  They  said  Dalton  understood  it,  and  they 
were  waiting  for  me  to  come  and  meet  him  on  the  road.  They 
then  hunted  up  Dalton,  and  told  him  they  had  things  all  right 
now.  Dalton  was  to  leave  town  a  little  before  sundown  and 
pass  the  Hot  Springs,  three  miles  north  of  the  city,  and  take 
the  lower  road,  on  which  there  was  not  much  travel,  and  I 
was  to  meet  him.  I  was  to  know  his  team  because  both  of 
his  horses  were  white.  All  being  arranged,  and  the  sun  about 
an  hour  high,  I  got  my  horse,  and  the  question  was  then 
asked  how  many  men  I  wanted  to  go  with  me.  I  told  them 
I  did  not  want  anyone.  They  said  I  must  have  somebody,  and 
I  told  them  I  would  take  a  man  that  was  standing  by,  by  the 
name  of  Meacham.  They  got  him  a  horse,  and  we  went  to  the 
place  appointed,  and  just  at  dark  the  wagon  came.  We  called 
it  to  halt.  The  man,  Buck,  got  a  shot  through  the  head,  and 
was  put  across  the  fence  in  a  ditch.  A  rag  was  hung  on  a 
bush  below  the  place.  We  returned  to  the  city  to  General 
Grant,  as  per  agreement,  and  found  him  at  home  with  General 
Kimball,  O.  P.  Rockwell  and  somebody  else,  whose  name  I  do 
not  recollect  now.  They  asked  if  all  was  right,  and  I  told  them 
it  was.  They  got  spades,  and  we  all  went  back,  deepened  the 
ditch,  put  him  in  and  buried  him,  returned  to  Grant's,  took 
some  whiskey,  and  separated  for  the  night.  The  next  day 
Kimball  and  I  went  to  Brigham  Young,  told  him  that  'Buck' 
was  taken  care  of,  and  there  would  be  no  more  stink  about  his 
stories.  He  said  he  was  glad  of  it." 

I  remember  distinctly  that  Hickman  in  relating  that  occur- 
rence to  me,  said  that  Buck,  when  he  was  shot,  sprang  out  of 
the  wagon,  and  while  he  was  struggling  on  the  ground, 
Meacham  dismounted  and  drove  his  bowie  knife  twice  into  his 
body.  He  was  up  to  this  event  the  sole  survivor  of  the  Aiken 
party,  who  were  murdered  by  Porter  Rockwell  and  his  ever- 
ready  assistants  at  the  "point  of  the  mountain"  on  the  road  J:o 
Lehi. 


151 


The  church  influence  which  made  the  perpetrators  of  the 
Mountain  Meadows  massacre  fiends,  evidently  made  the  Dan- 
ites  fiends  also.  Among  the  many  heartless  murders  commit- 
ted by  the  Danites  was  that  of  Jesse  P.  Hartley,  published  in 
Hickman's  confession  as  follows : 

"Hartley  was  a  young  lawyer  who  had  come  to  Salt  Lake 
City  the  fall  before,  and  had  married  a  Miss  Bullock  of  Provo, 
a  respectable  lady  of  good  family.  But  word  had  come  to 
Salt  Lake  (so  said,  I  never  knew  whether  it  did  or  not)  that  he 
had  been  engaged  in  some  counterfeiting  affair.  He  was  a 
fine  looking,  intelligent  young  man.  He  told  me  he  had  never 
worked  any  in  his  life,  and  was  going  to  Fort  Bridger  or  Green 
River  to  see  if  he  could  not  get  a  job  of  clerking  or  something 
that  he  could  do.  But  previous  to  this,  at  the  April  Conference, 
Brigham  Young,  before  the  congregation,  gave  him  a  tremend- 
ous blowing  up,  called  him  all  sorts  of  bad  names,  and  saying 
he  ought  to  have  his  throat  cut,  which  made  him  feel  very  bad. 
He  declared  he  was  not  guilty  of  the  charges.  I  saw  Orson 
Hyde  looking  sour  at  him,  and  after  he  had  been  in  camp  an 
hour  or  two,  Hyde  told  me  he  had  orders  from  Brigham 
Young,  if  he  (Hartley)  came  to  Fort  Supply,  to  have  him 
used  up.  'Now,'  said  he,  'I  want  you  and  George  Boyd  to  do 
it.'  I  saw  him  and  Boyd  talking  together ;  then  Boyd  came 
to  me  and  said,  'its  all  right  Bill,  I'll  help  you  to  kill  that  fel- 
low.' One  of  our  teams  was  two  or  three  miles  behind  and 
Orson  Hyde  wished  me  to  go  back  and  see  if  anything  had 
happened  to  it.  Boyd  saddled  his  horse  to  go  with  me,  but 
Hartley  stepped  up  and  said  he  would  go  if  Boyd  would  let 
him  have  his  horse.  Orson  Hyde  said  'let  him  have  your 
horse,'  which  Boyd  did.  Orson  Hyde  then  whispered  to  me, 
'now  is  your  time ;  don't  let  him  come  back.'  We  started,  and 
in  about  half  a  mile  we  had  to  cross  the  canyon  stream,  which 
was  mid-side  to  our  horses.  While  crossing,  Hartley  got  a 
shot  and  fell  dead  in  the  creek.  That  evening,  after  supper 
was  over,  Orson  Hyde  called  all  the  camp  together  and  said 
he  wanted  a  strong  guard  on  that  night  for  that  fellow  that  had 
come  to  us  in  the  forenoon  had  left  the  company.  He  was  a 
bad  man,  and  it  was  his  opinion  that  he  intended  stealing 
horses  that  night.  This  was  about  as  good  a  take-off  as  he 
could  get  up,  but  it  was  all  nonsense.  It  would  do  well 
enough  to  tell,  as  everyone  that  did  not  know  what  had  hap- 
pened believed  it." 

In  the  early  days  of  my  experience  in  Utah,  I  frequently 
had  cases  which  required  me  to  go  to  the  city  of  Provo,  and 
when  attending  court  there  I  lodged  at  Mr.  Bullock's  hotel. 
Having  heard  of  the  murder  of  Hartley,  and  that  his  wife  was 

152 


a  sister  of  Mr.  Bullock,  I  asked  him  on  one  occasion,  while 
stopping  at  his  hotel,  whether  what  I  had  heard  respecting 
the  murder  of  Hartley  was  true.  He  stated  that  Hartley  had 
incurred  the  displeasure  of  Brigham  Young,  who  at  a  public 
meeting  had  used  strong  language  against  Hartley,  and  had 
ordered  him  to  leave  the  speakers  stand;  that  on  account  of 
the  charges  made  by  Brigham,  which  Bullock  said  were  not 
true,  Hartley  was  put  under  the  ban  of  the  church,  and  decided 
to  change  his  residence.  He  joined  the  company  of  Judge 
Appleby,  and  while  leaving  the  Territory  was  murdered  by 
Hickman.  I  asked  Mr.  Bullock  if  the  matter  had  ever  been 
investigated  by  the  executive  authorities,  and  he  said  it  had 
not  been,  although  it  was  generally  known  that  Hickman  had 
committed  the  crime.  I  also  asked  him  why  he  had  not  insti- 
tuted proceedings  against  Hickman.  He  shook  his  head  sig- 
nificantly and  replied,  "Don't  press  me  for  an  answer  to  that 
question." 

The  following  account  of  the  murder  of  Hartley,  given  by 
his  wife  thirteen  years  before  the  confession  of  Hickman,  is 
contained  in  Mrs.  Mary  Etta  V.  Smith's  book  entitled,  "Fifteen 
Years  Residence  with  the  Mormons,"  pages  309-310,  and  is  as 
follows : 

"I  married  Jesse  Hartley  knowing  he  was  a  Gentile  in 
fact,  though  he  passed  for  a  Mormon;  but  that  made  no  dif- 
ference with  me,  because  he  was  a  noble  man  and  sought  only 
the  right.  Being  my  husband,  he  was  brought  into  close  con- 
tact with  the  heads  of  the  church,  and  thus  was  soon  enabled 
to  learn  of  many  things  he  did  not  approve  of,  and  of  which  I 
was  ignorant  though  brought  up  among  the  Saints,  and  which 
if  known  to  the  Gentiles  would  have  greatly  damaged  us.  I 
do  not  understand  all  he  discovered,  or  all  he  did;  but  they 
found  he  had  written  against  the  church,  and  he  was  cut  off, 
and  the  prophet  required  as  an  atonement  for  his  sins  that  he 
should  lay  down  his  life;  that  he  should  be  sacrificed  in  the 
endowment  rooms,  where  such  atonement  is  made.  This  I 
never  knew  until  my  husband  told  me — but  it  is  true.  They 
kill  those  there  who  have  committed  sins  too  great  to  be  atoned 
for  in  any  other  way.  The  prophet  says  if  they  submit  to  this 
he  can  save  them,  otherwise  they  are  lost.  Oh,  that  is  hor- 
rible !  But  my  husband  refused  to  be  sacrificed,  and  so  set  out 
alone  for  the  United  States,  thinking  that  there  might  be  at 
least  a  hope  of  success.  I  told  him  when  he  left  me  and  left 
his  child,  that  he  would  be  killed;  and  so  he  was. 

153 


"William  Hickman  and  another  Danite  shot  him  in  the 
canyons,  and  I  have  often  since  been  obliged  to  cook  for  this 
man  when  he  passed  this  way,  knowing  all  the  while  he  had 
killed  my  husband.  My  child  soon  followed  his  father,  and  I 
hope  to  die  also,  for  why  should  I  live?  They  have  brought 
me  here,  where  I  wish  to  remain  rather  than  return  to  Salt 
Lake  where  the  murderers  of  my  husband  curse  the. earth,  and 
roll  in  affluence,  unpunished." 

John  D.  Lee,  in  his  confession,  stated  : 

"When  the  Danites — or  Destroying  Angels — were  placed 
on  a  man's  track,  that  man  died — certain,  unless  some  provi- 
dential act  saved  him.  The  church  authorities  used  the  law  of 
the  land,  the  laws  of  the  church,  and  Danites,  to  enforce  their 
orders  and  rid  the  community  of  those  who  were  distasteful 
to  the  leaders.  And  I  say  as  a  fact,  that  there  was  no  escape 
for  anyone  that  the  leaders  of  the  church  in  southern  Utah 
selected  as  a  victim.  It  frequently  happened  that  men  be- 
came dissatisfied  with  the  church  and  tried  to  leave  the  Ter- 
ritory. The  authorities  would  try  to  convince  such  persons 
that  they  ought  to  remain,  but  if  they  insisted  on  going,  they 
were  informed  that  they  had  permission  to  do  so.  When  the 
person  had  started  off  with  his  stock  and  property,  it  was 
nearly  always  the  rule  to  send  a  lot  of  Danites  to  steal  all  of 
their  stock  and  run  it  off  into  the  mountains,  so  that  in  the 
majority  of  cases  the  people  would  return  wholly  broken  up, 
and  settle  down  again  as  obedient  members  of  the  church." 

Many  apostates  have  made  similar  statements  to  me,  and 
before  the  completion  of  the  Union  Pacific  railroad  it  was  very 
hazardous  for  an  apostate  to  leave  the  Territory  with  his 
family  and  property.  In  his  confession,  Lee  states  with  partic- 
ularity eight  or  nine  murders  which  he  knew  were  committed 
by  the  Danites,  and  some  of  the  victims  had  their  throats  cut. 

In  the  excavations  made  within  the  limits  of  Salt  Lake 
City  during  the  time  I  have  resided  there,  many  human  skel- 
etons have  been  exhumed  in  various  parts  of  the  city.  The 
present  City  cemetery  was  established  by  the  first  settlers. 
I  have  never  heard  that  it  was  ever  the  custom  to  bury  the 
dead  promiscuously  throughout  the  city;  and  as  no  coifins 
were  ever  found  in  connection  with  any  of  these  skeletons,  it 
is  evident  that  the  death  of  the  persons  to  whom  they  once 
belonged  did  not  result  from  natural  causes,  but  from  the 
use  of  criminal  means,  and  therefore  the  victims  were  not 
given  a  Christian  burial.  That  the  Danites  were  bound  by  their 

154 


covenants  to  execute  the  criminal  orders  of  the  high  priest- 
hood against  apostates  and  alleged  enemies  of  the  church  is 
beyond  question. 

That  such  an  organization  existed  is  shown  by  the  sermon 
of  Orson  Hyde,  before  quoted  in  which  he  referred  to  the 
"shepherd  and  his  sharp-toothed  dogs'';  also  in  the  sermon  of 
Brigham,  before  mentioned,  in  which  he  said : 

"If  men  come  here  and  do  not  behave  themselves,  they 
will  not  only  find  the  Saints,  whom  they  talk  so  much  about, 
biting  their  horses  heels,  but  the  scoundrels  will  find  some- 
thing biting  their  heels.  I  wish  such  characters  would  let  the 
boys  have  a  chance  at  them."  *  *  * 

Evidently  reference  is  here  made  to  the  Danites.  How 
many  murders  were  secretly  committed  by  that  band  of  assas- 
sins will  never  be  known,  but  an  estimate  may  be  made  from 
the  number  mentioned  in  the  confessions  of  Hickman  and  Lee, 
and  the  number  of  human  skeletons  which  have  been  exhumed 
in  Salt  Lake  City,  the  possessors  of  which  were  evidently 
murdered  and  buried  without  a  knell,  coffin,  or  Christian  cere- 
mony. 


155 


CHAPTER  XII. 

The  Alleged  "Revelation"  of  Polygamy. 

Chapter  II,  book  of  Jacob  in  the  Book  of  Mormon,  page 
132,  contains  the  following  sections : 

"Sec-.  22.  And  now  I  make  an  end  of  speaking  unto  you 
concerning  this  pride.  And  were  it  not  that  I  must  speak  unto 
you  concerning  a  greater  crime,  my  heart  would  rejoice  in  me 
because  of  you. 

"Sec.  23.  But  the  word  of  God  burdens  me  because  of 
your  grosser  crimes,  for  behold,  thus  sayeth  the  Lord,  'This 
people  began  to  wax  in  iniquity,  for  they  seek  to  excuse  them- 
selves in  committing  whoredom  because  of  the  things  which 
were  written  concerning  David  and  Solomon  and  his  son. 

"Sec.  24.  'Behold  David  and  Solomon,  who  had  many  wives 
and  concubines,  which  thing  was  abominable  before  me,'  sayeth 
the  Lord. 

"Sec.  25.  Wherefore,  thus  sayeth  the  Lord:  'I  have  led 
this  people  unto  the  land  of  Jerusalem  by  the  power  of  mine 
arm,  that  I  might  raise  up  unto  me  a  righteous  branch  from 
the  fruit  of  the  loins  of  Joseph. 

"Sec.  26.  'Wherefore,  I  the  Lord  God  will  not  suffer  that 
this  people  shall  do  like  unto  them  of  old.' 

"Sec.  27.  Wherefore,  my  brethren,  hear  me,  and  hearken 
unto  the  word  of  the  Lord,  for  there  shall  not  any  man  among 
you  have,  save  it  be  one  wife,  and  concubines  he  shall  have 
none." 

Section  5,  in  Chapter  III,  page  134,  is  as  follows: 
"Behold  the  Lamanites,  your  brethren,  whom  ye  hate  be- 
cause of  their  filthiness,  and  the  cursings  which  have  come  upon 
their  skins,  are  more  righteous  than  you ;  for  they  have  not 
forgotten  the  commandments  of  the  Lord,  which  was  given  unto 
our  fathers,  that  they  should  have,  save  it  were  one  wife,  and 
concubines  they  should  have  none." 

It  is  a  tenet  of  the  Mormon  church  that  the  Book  of  Mormon 
is  an  inspired  translation  by  Joseph  Smith  of  certain  hieroglyphics 
on  golden  plates  which  he,  under  the  guidance  of  an  angel,  dug 
from  a  hill  and  was  enabled  to  decipher  by  the  aid  of  a  peep- 
stone  called  the  Urim  and  Thummim,  given  him  by  an  angel. 
That  book  first  appeared  in  1830.  Thirteen  years  thereafter 

156 


Smith  claimed  to  have  received  the  alleged  revelation  of  poly- 
gamy, and  it  began  thus : 

"Verily,  thus  saith  the  Lord,  Unto  you,  my  servant  Joseph, 
that  inasmuch  as  you  have  inquired  of  my  hand  to  know  and 
understand  wherein  I  the  Lord  justified  my  servants  Abraham, 
Isaac  and  Jacob,  as  also  Moses,  David  and  Solomon,  my  servants, 
as  touching  the  principle  and  doctrine  of  their  having  many 
wives  and  concubines.  Behold  and  lo,  I  am  the  Lord  thy  God, 
and  will  answer  thee  touching  these  matters." 

In  view  of  the  quotations  which  I  have  made  from  the  Book 
of  Mormon,  this  would  have  been  the  natural  answer  to  Joseph's 
request,  so  far  as  it  relates  to  David  and  Solomon: 

"My  dearly  beloved  servant,  have  you  so  soon  forgotten 
that  in  the  Book  of  Mormon  which  I  have  inspired  you  to 
translate,  I  stated  in  most  positive  and  unambiguous  terms  that 
the  acts  of  David,  and  Solomon  his  son,  in  having  many  wives 
and  concubines  was  abominable  before  me  and  rendered  them 
less  righteous  than  the  filthy  Lamanites,  for  they  have  not  for- 
gotten the  commandments  of  the  Lord  which  was  given  unto 
their  fathers,  that  they  should  have,  save  it  were  one  wife,  and 
concubines  they  should  have  nohe." 

But  the  answer  to  Joseph's  inquiry  given  in  the  alleged 
revelation  is  as  follows: 

"David  also  received  many  wives  and  concubines,  as  also 
Solomon  and  Moses,  my  servants,  as  also  many  of  my  servants 
from  the  beginning  of  Creation  until  this  time,  and  in  nothing 
did  they  sin,  save  in  those  things  which  they  received  not  from 
me.  David's  wives  and  concubines  were  given  unto  him  by 
me  by  the  hand  of  Nathan,  my  servant,  and  others  of  the  prophets 
who  had  the  keys  of  power,  and  in  none  of  these  things  did 
he  sin  again  against  me,  save  in  the  case  of  Uriah  and  his  wife." 

This,  in  express  terms,  justifies  both  concubinage  and  polyg- 
imy  as  well,  and  explicitly  contradicts  the  statements  on  the  same 
subject  made  in  the  Book  of  Mormon,  and  is  sufficient  alone  to 
discredit  the  alleged  revelation  and  to  brand  its  author  as  having 
been  a  superlative  fraud.  That  he  is  such  is  equally  apparent  from 
the  following  portions  of  that  revelation : 

"Verily,  I  say  unto  you  a  commandment  I  gave  unto  my 
handmaid  Emma  Smith,  your  wife,  whom  I  have  given  unto 
you,  that  she  stay  herself,  and  partake  not  of  that  which  I 
commanded  you  to  offer  unto  her ;  for  I  did  it,  saith  the  Lord, 
to  prove  you  all,  as  I  did  Abraham,  and  that  I  might  require 
an  offering  at  your  hands,  by  covenant  and  sacrifice,  and  let 

157 


mine  handmaid  Emma  Smith  receive  all  those  that  have  been 
given  unto  my  servant  Joseph,  and  who  are  virtuous  and  pure 
before  me;  and  those  who  are  not  pure,  and  have  said  they 
were,  shall  be  destroyed,  saith  the  Lord ;  for  I  am  the  Lord,  thy 
God,  and  ye  shall  obey  My  voice,  and  I  command  my  handmaid 
Emma  Smith  to  abide  and  cleave  unto  my  servant  Joseph  and 
none  else.  But  if  she  will  not  abide  this  commandment,  she 
shall  be  destroyed,  saith  the  Lord,  for  I  am  the  Lord,  thy  God, 
and  I  will  destroy  her  if  she  abide  not  in  my  law ;  but  if  she 
will  abide  this  commandment,  then  shall  my  servant  Joseph  do 
all  things  for  her  as  he  hath  said,  and  I  will  bless  him  and  give 
unto  him  an  hundred-fold  in  this  world  of  fathers  and  mothers, 
brothers  and  sisters,  houses  and  lands,  wives  and  children,  and 
crown  of  eternal  lives  in  the  eternal  world.  *  *  *  And  again, 
verily  I  say,  Let  mine  handmaid  forgive  my  servant  Joseph  his 
trespasses,  and  then  shall  she  be  forgiven  her  trespasses  wherein 
she  hath  trespassed  against  me,  and  I  the  Lord  thy  God  will 
bless  her,  and  multiply  her  and  make  her  heart  rejoice.  *  *  * 
And  again,  verily,  verily  I  say  unto  you,  If  any  man,  having  a 
wife,  who  holds  the  keys  of  this  power,  and  he  teaches  her  the 
law  of  my  priesthood  as  pertaining  to  these  sayings,  then  shall 
she  believe  and  administer  unto  him,  or  she  shall  be  damned, 
sayeth  the  Lord,  your  God,  for  I  will  destroy  her:  for  I  will 
magnify  my  name  upon  all  those  who  receive  and  abide  in  my 
law.  Therefore,  it  shall  be  lawful  if  she  receive  not  this  law,  for 
him  to  receive  all  things  whatever  I  the  Lord  his  God  will  give 
unto  him  because  she  did  not  believe  and  administer  unto  him 
according  to  my  word  :  and  she  then  becomes  the  transgressor ; 
and  he  is  exempt  from  the  law  of  Sarah,  who  administered  un- 
to Abraham  according  to  the  law  when  I  commanded  Abraham 
to  take  Hagar  to  wife." 

The  following  extract  is  from  a  sermon  of  Brigham  Young 
delivered  in  1874: 

"Brother  Geo.  A.  Smith  has  been  reading  a  little  of  the 
revelation  concerning  celestial  marriage,  and  I  want  to  say  to 
my  sisters,  that  if  they  lift  their  heels  against  this  revelation 
you  will  go  to  hell  just  as  sure  as  you  are  living  women.  Emma, 
Joseph's  wife,  began  teasing  for  the  revelation.  She  said  'Joseph, 
you  promised  me  that  revelation,  and  if  you  are  a  man  of  your 
word,  you  will  give  it  to  me.'  Joseph  took  it  from  his  pocket 
and  said,  'take  it.'  She  went  to  the  fireplace  and  put  the  candle 
under  it  and  burned  it,  and  she  thought  that  was  the  end  of  it ; 
and  she  will  be  damned  just  as  sure  as  she  is  a  living  woman. 
Joseph  used  to  say  he  would  have  her  hereafter  if  he  had  to  go  to 
hell  for  her,  and  he  will  have  to  go  to  hell  for  her,  as  sure  as 
he  ever  gets  her." 


158 


John  Henry  Smith,  who  at  the  time  of  his  death  was  one 
of  the  counselors  of  Joseph  F.  Smith,  the  president  of  the  church, 
was  in  his  examination  hereinbefore  mentioned,  asked  the  ques- 
tion: "Do  you  understand  that  revelation  to  be  to  this  effect, 
that  if  the  first  wife  refuses  to  consent  to  her  husband  taking 
a  second  wife,  'she  shall  be  damned'?"  He  answered:  "I  un- 
derstand that  principle.  A  good  many  women  have  taken  that 
chance.  Under  the  Mormon  theory  they  shall  be  damned." 

No  true  wife  could,  without  stifling  one  of  the  strongest 
natural  attributes  with  which  woman  has  been  endowed  by  her 
Creator,  consent  to  or  abide  by  the  plural  marriage  of  her  hus- 
band, and  to  destroy  or  damn  her,  or  send  her  to  hell  for  refus- 
ing to  submit  to  a  thing  so  repugnant  to  her  womanly  nature  as 
polygamy  would  be  monstrously  wicked  and  barbarous. 

The  claim  of  Joseph  Smith  that  this  tenet  of  the  Mormon 
church  was  revealed  to  him  by  God,  conclusively  shows  him 
to  have  been  an  impostor  and  pervert.  To  ascribe  the  author- 
ship of  such  an  infamous  document  as  that  alleged  revelation 
to  God  is  a  monstrous  profanation  of  His  sacred  name. 

Whitney  was  evidently  ashamed  of  that  tenet  of  the  Mor- 
mon church,  for  in  his  History  of  Utah  he  eliminated  from 
the  alleged  revelation  of  polygamy,  as  published  therein,  the 
portions  above  quoted. 

In  the  Deseret  News  of  May  26,  1886,  there  appeared 
an  affidavit  of  William  Clayton,  the  person  who  wrote  down 
the  revelation  of  polygamy  as  dictated  to  him  by  Joseph 
Smith.  In  this  affidavit  Clayton  says : 

"In  the  month  of  February,  1843,  Joseph  informed  me 
that  he  had  other  wives  living  besides  his  first  wife,  Emma, 
and  in  particular  gave  me  to  understand  that  Eliza  R.  Snow, 
Eliza  Beman,  Desdemona  Fuller,  and  others,  were  his  lawful 
wives  in  the  sight  of  Heaven.  On  the  27th  of  April,  1843, 
the  Prophet  Joseph  Smith  married  me  to  Margaret  Moon,  for 
time  and  eternity,  at  the  residence  of  Heber  C.  Kimball,  and 
on  the  22d  day  of  July,  1843,  he  married  me  according  to  the 
[celestial]  order  of  the  church  to  my  first  wife,  Ruth.  On 
the  first  day  of  May,  1843,  I  officiated  in  the  office  of  Elder 
by  marrying  Lucy  Walker  to  the  Prophet  Joseph  Smith  at 
his  own  residence.  During  this  period  the  Prophet  took 
several  other  wives,  among  the  number  I  only  remember  Eliza 
Partridge,  Emily  Partridge,  Sarah  Ann  Whitney,  Helen  Kim- 
ball  and  Flora  Wadsworth.  All  these  he  acknowledged  to  me 

159 


were  his  lawfully  wedded  wives,  according  to  the  celestial 
order." 

The  Deseret  News,  which  is  the  official  organ  of  the 
church,  on  May  20,  1886,  contained  the  following: 

"The  revelation  of  celestial  marriage,  published  in  the 
Doctrine  and  Covenants,  was  given  July  12th,  1843.  The 
principles  it  contains,  with  further  intelligence  on  the  subject, 
was  revealed  to  the  Prophet  many  years  before,  but  not 
formulated  in  writing  for  the  church.  Acting  under  instruc- 
tions from  the  Lord,  the  Prophet  had  several  wives  sealed  to 
him  before  the  date  of  the  revelation." 

In  February,  1844,  the  following  appeared  in  the  Times 
and  Seasons,  then  the  official  publication  of  the  Mormon 
church : 

"Notice — As  we  have  been  credibly  informed  that  an 
elder  of  the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ  of  Latter-day  Saints  by 
the  name  of  Hyrum  Brown  has  been  preaching  polygamy  and 
other  false  and  corrupt  doctrines  in  the  county  of  Lapeer, 
State  of  Michigan,  this  is  to  notify  him  and  the  church  in 
general,  that  he  has  been  cut  off  from  the  church  for  his 
iniquity,  and  he  is  further  notified  to  appear  at  a  Special 
Conference  on  the  fifth  of  April  next  to  answer  to  these 
charges. 

(Signed)  JOSEPH  SMITH, 
HYRUM  SMITH, 
Presidents  of  the  Church." 

John  Taylor,  at  a  public  discussion  with  a  divine  in 
Boulogne,  France,  in  July,  1850,  in  answer  to  the  accusation 
made  that  the  Mormon  church  tolerated  the  practice  of  polyg- 
amy, said:  "We  are  accused  here  of  polygamy,  and  actions 
the  most  indelicate,  obscene  and  disgusting,  such  as  none  but 
a  corrupt  heart  could  have  co'ntrived;  these  things  are  too 
outrageous  to  admit  of  belief."  Taylor  at  that  time  had  at 
least  eight  plural  wives  living.  In  explanation  of  these  denials, 
the  Deseret  News  of  May  20th,  1886,  published  the  following: 

"Polygamy,  in  the  ordinary  and  Asiatic  sense  of  the  term, 
never  was  and  is  not  now  a  tenet  of  the  Latter-day  Saints. 
Until  the  open  enunciation  of  the  doctrine  of  celestial  mar- 
riage by  the  publication  of  the  revelation  on  the  subject  in 
1852,  no  elder  was  authorized  to  announce  it  to  the  world. 
The  Almighty  has  revealed  things  on  many  occasions  which 
was  for  his  servants  and  not  for  the  world.  In  the  rise  of 
the  church,  the  Lord  had  occasion  to  admonish  his  servants 
in  regard  to  revelations  that  were  afterward  permitted  to  be 

160 


published.  'I  say  unto  you,  hold  your  peace  until  I  shall 
see  fit  to  make  all  things  public.  I  say  unto  you,  hold  your 
peace  until  I  shall  see  fit  to  make  all  things  known  unto  the 
world  concerning  the  matter,  and  now  I  say  unto  you,  keep 
these  things  from  going  abroad  in  the  world  until  it  is  ex- 
pedient to  me.'  Under  these  instructions  the  elders  had  no 
right  to  promulgate  anything  but  that  which  they  were  author- 
ized to  teach,  and  when  assailed  by  enemies  and  accused  of 
practicing  things  which  were  really  not  countenanced  in  the 
church,  they  were  justified  in  denying  those  imputations  and 
at  the  same  time  avoiding  the  avowal  of  such  doctrines  as  were 
not  yet  intended  for  the  world.  The  course  they  have  taken 
when  necessary  by  commandment  is  all  the  ground  which  their 
accusers  have  for  charging  them  with  falsehood." 

Whitney,  in  his  history.  Vol.  I,  page  216,  states : 
"Prior  to  the  recording  of  this  revelation,  the  Prophet 
had  taught  the  doctrine  privately,  and  he  and  other  prominent 
elders  had  practiced  it.  But  this  was  also  in  secret,  owing  to 
the  great  prejudice  it  was  foreseen  it  would  invoke.  It  was 
not  avowed  even  to  the  masses  of  the  Saints  until  after  their 
removal  from  Illinois." 

It  is  evident  from  the  above  that  previous  to  the  revela- 
tion, Joseph  had  been  cohabiting  with  numerous  women  on 
the  sly,  and  that  a  point  had  been  reached  when  further  con- 
cealment from  the  generality  of  his  adherents  was  difficult, 
and  knowing  that  his  followers  believed  him  to  be  a  true 
prophet  of  God,  he  announced  the  revelation,  intending  by 
that  ruse  to  justify  his  practices,  reconcile  his  adherents  and 
coerce  his  wife  Emma  to  submit  to  his  outrageous  violations 
of  her  marital  rights. 
*###***#*#*# 

The  following  extracts  from  revelations  of  Joseph  Smith 
contained  in  the  Doctrine  and  Covenants,  which  contains  the 
most  of  his  "revelations,"  shows  the  absurdity  of  the  claim 
that  he  was  an  inspired  prophet: 

(Sec.  124,  page  436.)  "And  now  I  say  unto  you,  as  pertain- 
ing to  my  boarding  house,  which  I  have  commanded  you  to 
build  for  the  boarding  of  strangers,  that  it  be  built  unto  my 
name,  and  let  my  name  be  named  upon  it,  and  let  my  servant 
Joseph  and  his  house  have  place  therein  from  generation  to 
generation,  for  this  anointing  have  I  put  upon  his  head  that 
his  blessings  shall  also  be  put  upon  the  head  of  his  posterity 
after  him.  And  as  I  said  unto  Abraham  concerning  the 
kindreds  of  the  earth,  even  so  I  say  unto  my  servant  Joseph, 

161 


In  thee  and  in  thy  seed  shall  the  kindred  of  the  earth  be 
blessed.  Therefore  let  my  servant,  Joseph,  and  his  seed 
after  him,  have  place  in  that  house  from  generation  to  genera- 
tion for  ever  and  ever,  sayeth  the  Lord.  And  let  the  name 
of  the  house  be  called  'Nauvoo  House/  and  let  it  be  a  delightful 
habitation  for  man,  and  a  resting  place  for  the  weary  traveler, 
that  he  may  contemplate  the  glory  of  Zion,  and  the  glory  of 
the  cornerstone  thereof.  That  he  may  receive  also  the  counsel 
from  those  whom  I  have  set  to  be  as  plants  of  renown,  and 
as  watchmen  upon  her  walls.  Behold,  verily  I  say  unto  you, 
Let  my  servant  George  Miller,  and  my  servant  Lyman  Wight, 
and  my  servant  John  Snyder,  and  my  servant  Peter  Haws, 
organize  themselves  and  appoint  one  of  them  to  be  president 
over  their  quorum  for  the  purpose  of  building  that  house. 
And  they  shall  form  a  constitution  whereby  they  shall  receive 
stock  for  the  building  of  that  house.  And  they  shall  not  re- 
ceive less  than  $50.00  for  a  share  of  stock  in  that  house,  and 
they  shall  be  permitted  to  receive  $15,000.00  from  any  one 
man  for  stock  in  that  house,  but  they  shall  not  be  permitted 
to  receive  over  $15,000.00  stock  from  any  one  man,  and  they 
shall  not  be  permitted  to  receive  any  man  as  stockholder  in 
this  house,  except  the  same  shall  pay  his  stock  into  their 
hands  at  the  time  he  receives  the  stock." 

As  being  extremely  apropos  to  the  foregoing  covert  plan  of 
Joseph  to  have  his  poor  dupes  build  for  him  a  regal  residence,  the 
following  extract  of  Colton,  the  metaphyscist,  is  interpolated : 

"It  is  a  curious  paradox  that  precisely  in  proportion  to 
our  own  intellectual  weakness  will  be  our  credulity  to  those 
mysterious  powers  assumed  by  others ;  and  in  those  regions 
of  darkness  and  ignorance  where  man  cannot  effect  even 
those  things  that  are  within  the  power  of  man,  there  we  shall 
ever  find  that  a  blind  belief  in  feats  that  are  far  beyond  those 
powers  has  taken  the  deepest  root  in  the  minds  of  the  deceived, 
and  produced  the  richest  harvest  to  the  knavery  of  the  deceiver." 

(Page  241).  "And  now,  verily  I  say,  that  it  is  expedient 
in  me  that  my  servant,  Sydney  Gilbert,  after  a  few  weeks, 
should  return  upon  his  business,  and  to  his  Agency  in  the 
Land  of  God ;  and  that  which  he  hath  seen  and  heard  may 
be  made  known  unto  my  disciples,  that  they  perish  not.  And 
for  this  cause  I  have  spoken  these  things.  And  again  I  say 
unto  you,  that  my  servant,  Isaac  Morley,  may  not  be  tempted 
above  that  which  he  is  able  to  bear,  and  counsel  wrongfully 
to  your  heart,  I  give  commandment  that  his  farm  should  be 
sold." 

(Page  242).  "And  it  is  not  meet  that  my  servants,  Newell 
K.  Whitney  and  Sydney  Gilbert,  should  sell  their  store  and 

162 


their  possessions,  for  this  is  not  wisdom  until  the  residue  of 
the  church  which  remaineth  in  this  place  shall  go  up  unto 
the  land  of  Zion." 

One  of  the  characteristic  expressions  of  Brigham  Young 
was  "Tie  up  the  calf,  and  the  cow  will  not  stray  away  from 
her  home."  To  accomplish  the  end  indicated  by  that  ex- 
pression, he  forced  (and  was  enabled  to  do  so  because  he 
was  generally  regarded  by  his  adherents  as  being  the  mouth- 
piece of  God  on  earth)  many  of  the  wealthier  and  more 
influential  members  of  his  church  into  polygamy  who  would 
not,  voluntarily,  have  married  plural  wives.  A  Mormon 
polygamist,  if  he  should  apostatize,  would  immediately,  as 
Brigham  well  know,  be  ostracized  by  his  former  brethren, 
and  could  not  hope  by  moving  with  his  polygamous  family 
away  from  a  Mormon  community,  to  escape  proscription,  or 
form  respectable  social  relations  elsewhere  among  Christian 
people.  Therefore  a  member  of  the  Mormon  church,  by 
marrying  plural  wives,  figuratively  tied  up  the  calf,  and  if 
he  afterwards  apostatized  from  the  church  would  have  been 
placed  in  a  most  distressing  position  by  his  polygamous 
connections. 


163 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

The  Policy  of  the  Priesthood  Was  to  Prevent  Gentiles  From 
Settling  in  the  Territory,  or  to  Acquire  Property. 

The  hostility  of  the  Priesthood  to  the  settlement  of  Gen- 
tiles in  the  Territory  is  shown  by  its  teachings,  sermons,  and 
also  by  the  outrages  perpetrated  to  prevent  it.  Brigham 
opposed  the  articles  of  the  Utah  Magazine  which  advocated 
the  opening  up  of  the  mines  on  the  ground  that  it  would  "open 
the  floodgates  to  Gentile  immigration,"  and  procured  the  ex- 
communication of  Mr.  Godbe,  the  proprietor  of  the  magazine, 
as  also  Mr.  Harrison,  its  editor,  on  the  charge  of  having  ad- 
vocated the  opening  up  of  the  mines  in  opposition  to  the  coun- 
sel of  Brigham  Young.  Brigham,  in  a  sermon  delivered  in 
the  tabernacle  on  the  subject,  said:  "I  would  make  a  wall  so 
thick  and  so  high  around  the  Territory  that  it  would  be  im- 
possible for  the  Gentiles  to  get  over  or  through  it." 

The  following  is  an  extract  from  a  sermon  of  Heber  J. 
Kimball,  copied  from  Bowies'  book,  entitled  "Across  the 
Continent" : 

"Ladies  and  gentlemen,  good  morning!  I  am  going  to 
talk  to  you  by  revelation.  I  never  study  my  sermons,  and 
when  I  get  up  to  speak  I  never  know  what  I  am  going  to  say, 
only  as  it  is  revealed  to  me  from  on  high;  then  all  I  say  is 
true.  Could  it  help  but  be  so  when  God  communicates  through 
me?  *  *  *  The  Gentiles  are  our  enemies.  They  are 
damned  forever.  They  are  thieves  and  murderers ;  and  if  they 
don't  like  what  I  say,  they  can  got  to  hell — damn  them." 

In  the  case  of  the  Church  v.  The  United  States,  136  U.  S. 
Rep.,  page  49,  Mr.  Justice  Bradley,  in  the  opinion,  said: 

"It  is  unnecessary  here  to  refer  to  the  past  history  of  the 
sect — to  their  defiance  of  the  government's  authority,  to  their 
attempt  to  establish  an  independent  community,  to  their  ef- 
forts to  drive  from  the  Territory  all  who  were  not  connected 
with  them  in  communion  and  sympathy.  The  tale  is  one  of 
patience  on  the  part  of  the  American  government  and  people, 
and  of  contempt  of  authority  and  resistance  to  law  on  the  part 
of  the  Mormons." 

164 


The  manner  in  which  any  considerable  number  of  Gentiles 
were  successfully  prevented  from  settling  in  Utah  until  after 
the  development  of  the  mines  and  the  completion  of  the  Union 
Pacific  railroad  is  shown  by  the  following  statement  of  facts: 

The  legislature  of  the  State  of  Deseret,  which  was  estab- 
lished by  the  Mormons  previously  to  the  meeting  of  the  first 
territorial  legislature  in  1852,  granted  to  Brigham  Young,  the 
governor  of  that  State,  and  other  officials  of  the  Mormon 
church,  the  control  of  the  most  important  canyons.  The  fol- 
lowing is  a  sample  of  the  acts  granting  such  control : 

"Be  it  ordained  by  the  General  Assembly  of  the  State  of 
Deseret :  That  Brigham  Young  have  the  sole  control  of  City 
Creek  and  Canyon ;  and  that  he  pay  into  the  public  treasury 
the  sum  of  five  hundred  dollars  therefor." 

This  act  was  approved  by  Governor  Young,  December  9, 
1850,  and  in  pursuance  of  that  grant  Brigham  Young,  by  the 
erection  of  the  Eagle  Gate,  closed  the  only  entrance  to  City 
Creek  canyon  then  existing;  and  from  that  time,  and  until  long 
after  my  arrival  in  Salt  Lake  City  in  1865,  he  exacted  tribute 
from  the  inhabitants  for  the  privilege  of  utilizing  the  natural, 
useful  and  extensive  resources  of  that  canyon.  By  that  grant 
Brigham  obtained  a  rich  bonanza,  and  the  eagle  which  still  hov- 
ers over  that  gate  is  a  fit  emblem  of  the  rapacity  which  exacted 
tribute  from  the  masses  for  the  privilege  of  enjoying  that  por- 
tion of  the  natural  resources  of  the  public  domain  within  the 
limits  of  City  Creek  canyon.  All  of  the  acts  of  the  Deseret  legis- 
lature were  re-enacted  by  the  territorial  legislature  in  1852. 

The  most  available  agricultural  land  of  the  Territory  was 
also  monopolized  likewise.  Cities  and  small  villages  were  at 
an  early  day  started  at  the  mouths  of  the  various  irrigating 
streams,  and  incorporated  by  acts  of  the  State  of  Deseret  and 
confirmed  by  the  territorial  legislature  by  similar  acts.  In 
each  instance,  the  corporate  boundaries  included  a  large  quan- 
tity of  unoccupied  agricultural  land,  notwithstanding  that  even 
the  largest  cities  at  that  time  had  but  a  small  number  of  inhab- 
itants. The  corporate  limits  of  Cedar  City  is  a  fair  sample  of 
the  other  cities  and  villages,  and  is  as  follows:  "Beginning  at 
the  mouth  of  Coal  Creek  canyon,  thence  north  three  miles, 
thence  west  six  miles,  thence  south  six  miles,  thence  east  six 
miles,  thence  north  three  miles  to  the  place  of  beginning." 

165 


Cedar  City  was  incorporated,  as  were  many  of  the  other  cities 
and  villages,  at  the  first  session  of  the  territorial  legislature 
in  1852.  At  that  time  Cedar  City  had  only  about  one  hundred 
inhabitants. 

The  homestead  and  preemption  act  of  Congress  expressly 
excludes  from  its  operation  land  within  the  corporate  limits  of 
a  city  or  town.  By  an  act  of  the  territorial  legislature  the 
surveyor-general  was  authorized  and  required  to  give  to  the 
person  for  whom  he  made  a  survey  a  certificate  therefor,  des- 
cribing the  tract,  block  or  lot,  and  specifying  its  area,  and 
provided  that  such  certificate  should  be  title  of  possession  to 
the  person  holding  it.  Under  that  act  as  construed  and  en- 
forced, no  one  had  a  right  to  take  possession  and  hold  any  ot 
the  land  so  excluded  from  the  homestead  and  preemption 
act  without  obtaining  such  certificate  as  the  one  mentioned. 
In  view  of  the  church  policy  of  excluding  Gentiles  from  set- 
tling in  the  Territory,  it  would  have  been  useless  for  any  Gen- 
tile to  apply  for  such  a  certificate,  and  it  would  have  been  the 
height  of  folly,  and  dangerous  for  him,  to  have  attempted  to 
hold  possession  of  any  of  the  land  so  excluded  without  such 
a  certificate.  Among  the  incidents  which  show  that  the  lat- 
ter statement  is  correct,  are  the  assassination  of  Dr.  Robinson, 
and  an  occurrence  told  to  me  by  Dr.  Williamson,  whose  vera- 
city was  unquestionable,  and  which  in  substance  is  as  follows : 

During  the  same  year  that  Dr.  Robinson  was  assassinated. 
Dr.  Williamson,  intending  to  acquire  the  title  to  an  unoccupied 
tract  of  land  lying  outside  the  inhabited  portion  of  the  city 
of  Salt  Lake,  after  surveying  the  same,  and  without  applying 
to  the  surveyor-general  for  a  certificate,  erected  a  house  there- 
on. On  a  night  a  few  weeks  afterwards,  while  the  doctor  and 
Captain  Brown,  a  friend,  were  sitting  in  the  house,  they  were 
arrested  by  a  squad  of  masked  men  and  forcibly  taken  to  the 
Jordan  river,  which  was  near  the  doctor's  house.  On  the 
brink  of  that  stream  their  captors  halted,  and  then  began  to 
bind  the  arms  and  legs  of  their  prisoners.  Captain  Brown  ex- 
claimed, "If  you  intend  to  take  our  lives,  as  we  are  honorable 
men,  for  God's  sake,  shoot  us  instead  of  drowning  us  like 
dogs !"  When  Captain  Brown  made  that  exclamation,  one  of 
the  masked  men  recognized  him  as  a  former  acquaintance  by 
whom  he  had  been  befriended  in  California,  and  having  stated 

166 


that  fact,  he  interceded  to  save  the  life  of  his  former  friend. 
The  masked  men  after  holding  a  short  consultation  offered 
to  release  the  prisoners  on  condition  that  the  doctor  would 
promise  to  abandon  his  claim  to  said  land,  and  not  again  take 
possession  of  it.  The  doctor  promised,  and  both  he  and  the 
captain  were  set  free.  Dr.  Williamson  recognized  among  his 
captors  two  members  of  the  police  force  of  Salt  Lake  City. 
Both  Dr.  Williamson  and  Captain  Brown  were  Gentiles,  and 
had  previously  been  United  States  officers,  the  former  as 
surgeon  and  the  latter  a  captain  on  General  Connor's  staff  at 
Camp  Douglas. 

The  exclusion  of  the  land  at  the  mouth  of  the  various 
irrigation  streams  of  the  Territory  practically  placed  all  of  the 
available  irrigation  water  under  the  control  of  the  municipal 
corporations,  and  practically  prevented  homestead  or  preemp- 
tion filings  on  land  not  within  the  corporate  limits  by  out- 
siders. As  the  municipal  boundaries  in  some  instances  are 
contiguous  in  different  localities  in  Utah,  a  person  can  travel 
in  places  for  many  miles  without  being  outside  of  the  limits 
of  a  municipal  corporation.  The  land  monopoly  thus  secured 
was  held  in  reserve  by  the  priesthood  for  the  future  occupa- 
tion of  Latter-day  Saints. 

In  connection  with  that  monopoly,  a  company  called  the 
Perpetual  Emigration  Fund  was  incorporated  by  the  territor- 
ial legislature.  It  was  authorized  to  acquire  by  donation  and 
otherwise,  without  limitation,  both  real  and  personal  prop- 
erty. Section  10  of  the  act  incorporating  the  company  pro- 
vided, "that  the  entire  proceeds  of  the  company  should  inure 
to  a  perpetual  emigration  fund  for  the  poor,  and  the  general 
business  of  the  company  would  be  devoted,  under  the  direc- 
ion  and  supervision  of  the  First  Presidency  of  the  church,  to 
promote,  facilitate  and  accomplish  the  emigration  of  the  poor." 

The  numerous  missionaries  sent  out  by  the  church  suc- 
ceeded in  proselyting  many  converts  by  representing  to  them 
that  by  joining  the  Mormon  church  and  emigrating  to  Utah 
they  would  be  assisted  in  acquiring  ownership  in  land  on  which 
to  establish  homesteads  of  their  own,  and  that  the  money  ne- 
cessary in  accomplishing  this,  as  also  the  expenses  of  their 
emigration,  would  be  advanced  to  them  by  a  company  formed 
to  assist  the  poor.  Thousands  of  emigrants  were  brought  to 

167 


Utah  by  that  company  and  settled  upon  the  land  so  monopo- 
lized by  the  church.  They  were  required  upon  arrival  in  Utah 
to  give  their  notes  for  money  advanced  bearing  the  high  rates 
of  interest  prevalent  there  at  that  time.  There  existed  in  the 
Territory  a  general  sentiment  which  made  the  indebtedness 
thus  incurred  a  preferred  one,  and  although  ample  time  was 
given  to  the  obligors  in  which  to  meet  it,  until  discharged 
it  was  practically  a  mortgage  on  all  the  property  subsequently 
acquired  by  them.  Almost  the  entire  population  of  the  Ter- 
ritory was  Mormon  until  several  years  after  the  completion  of 
the  Union  Pacific  railroad,  and  the  mines  had  been  developed 
by  Gentiles.  Previous  to  that  time  members  of  the  church 
were  prohibited  by  the  priesthood  from  selling  land  to  out- 
siders, or  from  patronizing  Gentiles  engaged  in  mercantile 
and  other  commercial  pursuits,  and  to  secure  the  observance 
of  the  latter  prohibition,  a  sign,  here  reproduced,  was  always 


placed  over  the  entrance  of  each  Mormon  store  and  business 
house  in  obedience  to  an  order  of  Brigham  Young,  and  any 
Mormon  who  patronized  a  house  over  the  entrance  of  which 
there  was  no  such-  sign,  if  caught  in  doing  so,  incurred  the  dis- 
pleasure of  the  priesthood  and  was  liable  to  church  "discipline" 
therefor.  No  doubt  the  priesthood  thought  that  it  had  by  the 
methods  mentioned  forestalled  any  extensive  settlement  in  the 
Territory  by  Gentiles,  but — 

168 


"The  best  laid  schemes  of  mice  and  men 

Gang  aft  a-glee 
And  lea'e  us  nought  but  grief  and  pain 

For  promised  joy." 

Brigham  Young,  by  interdicting  the  discovery  and  devel- 
opment of  the  mines  by  his  adherents,  thwarted  his  well-laid 
schemes  of  exclusion.  If,  instead  of  prohibiting  his  followers 
from  doing  so,  he  had  ordered  them  to  prospect,  they  could 
have  as  readily — as  was  afterward  done  by  outsiders — dis- 
covered the  mines,  formed  mining  districts,  and  made  local 
mining  laws  under  which  locations  of  mining  claims  could 
have  been  made  as  would  have  enabled  the  Mormons  to  mon- 
opolize the  mines  in  the  Territory  the  same  as  was  done  res- 
pecting the  available  agricultural  land. 

The  following  testimony  of  Henry  W.  Lawrence,  in  the 
investigation  of  the  naturalization  cases  before  mentioned, 
shows  the  method  resorted  to  by  Brigham  Young  to  prevent 
the  opening  up  of  the  mines : 

"The  charge  upon  which  I  was  excommunicated  was  a 
rather  general  charge  of  apostasy.  Anything  in  disobedience 
to  the  priesthood  was  apostasy.  *  *  *  There  are  many 
theories  connected  with  Mormonism  that  are  pretty  good— 
they  are  very  winning  to  the  outside  world.  The  practical  work- 
ing of  Mormonism  is  one  thing,  the  theories  are  another.  There 
were  a  great  many  things  connected  with  it  that  were  objec- 
tionable. When  you  would  ask  any  one  in  authority  they  would 
say,  'Well,  you  don't  understand.  These  things  are  all  right, 
and  if  you  only  have  faith — are  faithful — you  will  under- 
stand them  after  a  while.'  We  were  taught  to  a  certain  ex- 
tent to  give  up  our  individuality,  not  to  think,  not  to  reason. 

"For  some  little  time  before  we  came  out  of  the  church  Mr. 
Godbe  and  Mr.  Harrison  were  printing  what  was  called  The 
Utah  Magazine,  the  forerunner  of  the  Tribune.  The  paper 
was  started  with  the  view  of  printing  some  advanced  ideas 
or  liberal  thoughts  to  set  the  people  to  thinking.  I  realized 
that  there  were  a  great  many  things  that  were  wrong,  and  we 
wanted  to  see  them  corrected.  We  were  all  in  the  church,  and 
we  wanted  Mormonism  to  be  true.  We  had  grown  up  in  the 
system,  and  we  didn't  want  to  follow  something  that  was  not 
what  it  represented  itself  to  be.  For  about  a  year  or  two 
that  magazine  existed.  The  priesthood  was  supreme  here  in 
these  mountains.  To  object  to  anything — to  object  to  any  of 
the  counsels  of  Brigham  Young  or  any  of  the  leaders  of  the 
church — was  considered,  I  won't  say  worthy  of  death,  but  of 
excommunication  and  ostracism  which  very  few  men  could 

169 


afford  to  bear.  In  temporal  matters  and  in  spiritual  matters 
it  is  the  right  of  the  priesthood  to  dictate  in  all  things,  the 
people  to  give  their  unquestioned  obedience.  We  saw  that  the 
course  which  we  were  pursuing,  defying  the  government  and 
trying  to  ostracise  and  alienate  the  people  from  the  govern- 
ment and  the  world  would  bring  us  into  conflict  with  the 
government  and  with  civilization.  We  wanted  to  prevent  this 
if  we  could.  It  was  considered  quite  a  crime  for  any  man 
to  advocate  the  opening  of  mines.  Brigham  Young  or  the 
priesthood  used  to  say  that  whenever  the  Lord  wanted  the 
mines  open  he  would  order  them  opened.  Of  course,  that 
would  be  through  the  priesthood. 

"They  printed  a  piece  on  opening  the  mines.  At  that 
time  they  were  building  the  Union  Pacific  railroad.  Brig- 
ham  Young  had  contracts  on  that  road,  and  he  tried  to  con- 
trol the  wages  of  the  workmen.  He  taught  that  the  wages  of 
workmen  and  all  these  temporal  matters  must  be  controled 
by  what  was  called  the  School  of  the  Prophets.  Mr.  Harrison 
wrote  a  piece  on  Workmen's  Wages  in  which  he  argued  that 
Supply  and  Demand  should  control  the  men's  wages.  Brig- 
ham  Young  had  never  been  opposed  by  anyone  at  that  time. 

"The  charges  were  that  they  had  printed  things  in  the 
Utah  Magazine  against  the  counsels  and  direction  of  the  holy 
priesthood.  George  Q.  Cannon  was  the  'prosecuting  attorney.' 
He  stood  right  there  (pointing),  and  he  read  that  piece  on  the 
Development  of  Mines  as  one  of  the  evidences  of  the  spirit  of 
apostasy.  That  was  the  main  charge  against  these  men,  that 
they  wanted  to  open  up  the  mines  here  contrary  to  the  direc- 
tions and  counsels  of  the  holy  priesthood.  The  result  was 
that,  the  vote  was  taken  and  they  were  cut  off  from  the  church. 
Geo.  A.  Smith  got  right  up  there,  and  says :  'These  two  men 
sitting  there  have  blacker  hearts  than  any  men  since  the  form- 
ation of  the  world.  They  want  to  open  up  the  mines  and  bring 
all  hell  and  the  devil  in  here.'  When  the  contrary  vote  was 
called  for,  Mr.  Kelsey  voted  to  sustain  them.  He  had  been  a 
member  of  the  church  ever  since  the  old  Nauvoo  days.  For 
exercising  the  right  to  vote  the  contrary  vote,  Brigham  Young 
got  up  and  says,  'I  move  that  Eli  B.  Kelsey  be  cut  off  from 
the  church.' 

"That  vote  was  taken  immediately,  without  a  trial,  when 
the  theory  of  the  church  is  that  every  man  shall  have  a  fair 
hearing  before  the  members  of  the  church.  [Kelsey  was  ex- 
communicated.] I  remained  in  the  church  probably  for  a 
month  afterward.  I  wanted  to  help  bring  about  some  re- 
forms that  I  saw  were  necessary.  We  wanted  to  see  Mormon- 
ism  made  respectable  so  as  to  bear  the  light  of  the  nineteenth 
century.  I  wasn't  even  then  prepared  to  give  up  the  church, 
but  they  cited  me  to  appear  before  the  bishop  in  the  eighth 

170 


ward,  and  some  general  charges  were  made  against  me,  of  a 
spirit  of  apostasy  in  sustaining  Godbe  and  Harrison  and  their 
movement,  and  I  was  cut  off  from  the  church. 

"They  didn't  give  me  a  trial  before  the  high  council,  nor 
allow  any  more  public  trials.  The  Mormon  church  claims  to 
be  the  government  and  Kingdom  of  God — that  is,  a  present, 
literal  kingdom,  with  laws  to  govern  and  control  its  members 
and  all  its  affairs — extended  to  the  direction  of  the  people  in 
all  things. 

"When  they  first  came  here  they  had  a  provisional  govern- 
ment called  the  State  of  Deseret ;  they  included  within  their 
jurisdiction  the  whole  country  this  side  of  Oregon  on  the 
north,  east  of  the  Sierra  Nevadas ;  took  in,  I  think,  New  Mex- 
ico. This  was  the  extent  of  what  they  hoped  and  expected  to 
get  a  State  government  for,  and  establish  their  kingdom,  the 
kingdom  that  was  set  upon  the  earth  no  more  to  be  thrown 
down.  As  the  power  developed  they  expected  to  control,  not 
only  this  government  of  the  United  States,  but  the  whole  earth. 
They  believed  that  because  the  government  of  the  United 
States  was  established  upon  such  a  broad  basis,  so  free  and  lib- 
eral in  its  provisions,  this  Kingdom  of  God  could  be  established 
and  increase  until  in  time  it  would  take  possession  of  the  gov- 
ernment. That  is  the  theory  of  the  Mormon  Kingdom  of  God. 
We  used  to  sing  a  song  here  in  early  days,  'Brigham  Young,  he 
is  our  king.'  It  went  to  the  tune  of  'Du  da/  It  is  a  temporal 
and  spiritual  kingdom  combined. 

Nowhere  in  the  teaching  of  the  Mormon  leaders — no- 
where in  their  private  ceremonies — are  people  taught  to  be 
loyal  and  true  to  the  government  of  the  United  States.  The 
general  tenor  of  the  teachings  in  early  days  was  disloyalty 
to  the  government/' 

Several  of  General  Connor's  soldiers,  stationed  at  Fort 
Douglas,  being  experienced  miners  were  given  leave  by  the 
general  in  1862  to  prospect  for  mines  in  the  mountains,  and 
upon  discovering  any,  to  locate  the  same.  They  discovered 
arid  located  valuable  mines  both  in  Bingham  Canyon  and 
Stockton.  In  1868,  the  phenomenally  rich  bonanza  of  the  cele- 
brated "Emma  mine"  was  developed.  That  event  directed 
the  attention  of  the  prospectors  and  miners  of  the  Rocky 
mountains  and  West  coast  to  the  importance  and  extent  of 
the  mineral  resources  of  Utah.  As  a  consequence,  the  sum- 
mer following  brought  from  other  mining  regions  into  the 
mountains  of  Utah  hundreds  of  practical  prospectors  and 
miners  who  were  well  equipped  with  the  usual  outfit  of  pros- 
pectors. They  possessed  extraordinary  courage,  energy  and 

171 


ability.  They  were  the  kind  of  men  that  the  church  could 
not  control  and  the  Destroying  Angels  could  not  intimidate. 
Their  discoveries  and  development  of  numerous  productive 
and  valuable  mines,  in  connection  with  the  completion  of  the 
Union  Pacific  railroad,  induced  a  greatly  increased  immigra- 
tion of  Gentiles  to  the  Territory,  and  large  investments  of 
outside  capital.  As  mining  and  agriculture  are  the  leading 
and  most  important  sources  of  prosperity  in  Utah,  if  the 
mines  had  been  monopolized  by  the  Mormons  as  the  agricul- 
tural land  had  been,  the  exclusion  sought  would  have  lasted 
for  an  indefinite  period.  From  what  has  been  accomplished 
in  Colorado  and  other  territories,  where  the  natural  laws  of 
immigration  were  not  interrupted,  I  confidently  assert  that 
if  the  Mormons  had  not  settled  in  Utah,  and  there  had  not 
been  any  inhabitants  there  previous  to  the  discovery  and 
opening  up  of  the  mines,  that  State  today  would  be  richer 
and  have  a  much  greater  population,  and  that  there  would  at 
the  present  time  be,  if  not  on  the  site  of  Salt  Lake  City,  some- 
where in  this  State,  a  city  corresponding  to  that  of  Denver. 
Utah's  natural  resources  are  greater  than  Colorado's,  and 
there  were  many  inhabitants  in  the  valleys  of  Utah  long  be- 
fore any  settlements  in  Colorado  were  commenced.  The 
policy  of  exclusion  enforced  by  the  priesthood,  and  the  fre- 
quent diatribes  uttered  in  Mormon  pulpits  against  the  Gentiles, 
made  Ishmaelites  of  the  Latter-day  Saints,  and  the  expression, 
"Those  who  are  not  for  us  are  against  us,"  became  proverbial 
among  them. 


172 


CHAPTER  XIV. 
The  Edmunds-Tucker  Bill  and  Its  Effect. 

I  took  no  part  in  the  Poland  bill,  the  effective  provisions 
of  which  were  copied  from  the  Cullom  bill.  Nor  did  I  take  any 
active  part  in  the  Edmunds  bill  of  1882,  which  also  contained 
additional  provisions  of  the  Cullom  bill,  except  to  call  Mr. 
Edmund's  attention  to  the  latter  bill  as  containing  the  provi- 
sions required  by  the  anomalous  conditions  'in  Utah.  When 
the  Edmunds-Tucker  bill,  which  contained  additional  provi- 
sions of  the  Cullom  bill  and  others  more  stringent,  passed  the 
Senate,  the  Gentiles  of  the  Territory  who  were  posted  knew 
that  a  strenuous  effort  would  be  made  by  the  priesthood  to 
defeat  it  in  the  Judiciary  Committee  of  the  House,  as  through 
Mormon  influence  and  money  many  other  bills  had  been  de- 
feated in  the  committees  to  which  they  had  been  referred. 
Consequently,  at  a  meeting  of  a  large  number  of  business 
Gentiles  at  the  Walker  House,  I  was  selected  to  go  to  Wash- 
ington, and  on  behalf  of  the  Gentiles  of  the  Territory  to  advo- 
cate the  passage  of  that  bill  at  its  discussion  before  the  Judi- 
ciary Committee  of  the  House;  to  which  it  had  been  referred. 
Upon  my  arrival  at  Washington,  I  called  upon  Judge  Ran- 
dolph Tucker,  chairman  of  the  committee,  with  whom  I  was 
well  acquainted,  and  stated  to  him  the  purpose  for  which  I 
had  been  selected  to  visit  Washington,  requesting  him  to  fix 
a  day  on  which  I  could  be  heard  by  the  committee  in  favor  of 
the  passage  of  the  bill.  He  stated  that  on  principle  he  was 
opposed  to  the  arbitrary  confiscation  by  the  general  govern- 
ment of  property,  and  that  as  present  advised  he  was  not  favor- 
able to  the  clause  of  the  bill  confiscating  the  property  of  the 
church ;  and  that  while  he  had  never,  except  in  a  casual  way, 
given  any  attention  to  the  Mormon  question,  his  present  incli- 
nation was  against  any  radical  and  exceptional  legislation  on 
the  subject.  In  reply,  I  said  the  evil  of  the  polygamic  anti- 
American  system  established  and  maintained  by  the  priesthood 
of  the  Mormon  church  in  Utah  was  radical  and  exceptional, 
and  it  required  extraordinary  measures  to  eradicate  that  evil, 

173 


and  that  the  accomplishment  of  that  desirable  end  could  only 
be  attained  by  adequate  legislation  by  Congress ;  that  as  he 
had  only  given  the  matter  casual  attention,  and  as  his  position 
of  chairman  now  imposed  upon  him  the  duty  of  making  a 
thorough  investigation  of  the  subject,  by  his  permission,  I 
would  furnish  him  with  the  offical  documents  and  data  neces- 
sary in  making  such  an  investigation,  which  without  my 
assistance,  would  be  difficult,  if  not  impossible,  for  him  to 
obtain.  He  replied  that  it  was  his  intention  to  make  a  thorough 
investigation  of  the  matter,  and  any  documents  bearing  upon 
the  subject  which  I  might  see  proper  to  submit  to  the  com- 
mittee, through  him,  would  receive  due  consideration.  Shortly 
afterwards  I  placed  in  his  hands  the  revised  territorial  statute 
of  1870  with  a  reference  to  the  various  provisions  which  I 
deemed  had  a  material  bearing  upon  the  subject,  among  which 
were  the  act  incorporating  the  Mormon  church,  and  the  clause 
of  the  organic  act,  in  the  sixth  section  of  which  it  was  provided 
that :  "All  laws  passed  by  the  legislature  assembly  and  gover- 
nor shall  be  submitted  to  Congress  of  the  United  States,  and 
if  disapproved  shall  be  null  and  of  no  effect/'  The  act  incor- 
porating the  Mormon  church  authorized  the  church  to  hold 
and  occupy  (without  limitation)  real  and  personal  estate; 
provided  for  the  election  at  General  Conference  of  the  church, 
one  trustee  in  trust,  and  not  to  exceed  twelve  assistant  trus- 
tees ;  to  receive,  hold,  buy,  sell,  and  manage,  use  and  control, 
real  and  personal  property  of  the  church,  and  authorized  said 
trustees  to  receive  real  and  personal  property  (without  limita- 
tion), by  gift,  donation  and  bequest,  and  prohibited  the  trans- 
action of  any  business  in  relation  to  buying,  selling  or  other- 
wise disposing  of  church  property,  without  the  consent  of  the 
trustee  in  trust.  From  the  passage  of  said  act  in  1851,  Brig- 
ham  Young  until  his  death  was  trustee  in  trust  of  the  church. 
The  church  was  also  authorized  to  solemnize  marriages  com- 
patible with  revelations,  and  pass  laws  for  the  government 
of  the  church,  and  for  the  punishment  or  forgiveness  of  all 
officers  relative  to  fellowship,  according  to  church  covenants. 
The  act  also  contained  the  following  proviso,  "Provided,  how- 
ever that  each  and  every  act  or  practice  so  established  or 
adopted  for  law  or  custom  shall  relate  to  solemnities,  sacra- 
ments, ceremonies,  consecrations,  endowments,  tithing,  mar- 

174 


riage,  fellowship,  or  the  religious  duties  of  man  to  his  maker. 
Inasmuch  as  the  doctrines,  principles,  practices  or  perform- 
ances support  virtue  and  increase  morality,  and  are  not  in- 
consistent with  or  repugnant  to  the  constitution  of  the  United 
States,  and  are  founded  in  the  revelations  of  the  Lord." 

The  power  thus  granted  to  acquire  by  purchase  and  gift, 
real  and  personal  property  without  limitation  was  against 
public  policy.  The  Mormon  church  had,  in  its  corporate  ca- 
pacity, acquired  extensive  tracts  of  land,  and  was  extensively 
engaged  in  secular  pursuits,  owned  large  herds  of  sheep,  cat- 
tle and  horses,  and  had  invested  large  sums  of  church  money 
in  various  money-making  enterprises.  A  grant  of  such  power 
to  any  corporation  is  indefensible  and  especially  dangerous 
when,  as  in  the  case  of  the  Mormon  church  it  is  given  to  an 
ecclesiastical  corporation  whose  adherents  concede  its  claims 
of  the  right  by  divine  authority  to  govern  in  both  spiritual 
and  temporal  affairs,  and  which  derives  an  immense  annual 
income  from  its  law  of  tithing.  The  exercise  by  corporations 
of  such  dangerous  power  in  the  mother  country  was  wisely 
restricted  by  the  statutes  of  mortmain.  The  act  incorporat- 
ing the  Mormon  church  clearly  authorized  the  solemnization 
of  plural  marriage  alleged  to  have  been  revealed  to  Joseph 
Smith.  The  character  of  the  punishment  which  the  church 
was  authorized  to  inflict  upon  its  members  can  be  inferred 
from  the  character  of  the  church  endowments  and  covenants 
hereinbefore  shown. 

It  was  the  manifest  duty  of  Congress  to  disapprove  that 
vicious  act,  and  it  is  astonishing  that  it  was  permitted  to  re- 
main in  force  for  thirty-seven  years.  It  was  not  disapproved 
by  Congress  until  the  enactment  of  the  Edmunds-Tucker  bill 
of  1887.  By  its  disapproval  the  church  corporation  was  dis- 
solved and  could  no  longer  acquire  or  hold  property.  During 
its  existence  it  had  acquired  large  and  valuable  quantities  of 
both  real  and  personal  property  which  was  not,  as  is  usual  in 
the  case  of  private  corporations,  represented  by  shares  of 
stock.  In  the  property  so  acquired  no  person  had  any  speci- 
fic interest  or  the  right  to  any  share  of  the  proceeds  result- 
ing from  the  sale  of  said  property  provided  for  in  the  act  dis- 
solving the  church  corporation.  Upon  the  disapproval  of  the 
act  incorporating  the  church,  as  there  was  no  person  legally 

175 


entitled  to  hold  the  property  of  the  church  or  share  in  the 
proceeds  of  its  sale  by  operation  of  law,  it  escheated  to  the 
United  States.  That  result  unavoidably  followed  the  annul- 
ment of  an  extremely  vicious  charter  of  an  ecclesiastical  cor- 
poration. It  is  therefore  apparent  that  the  property  of  the 
church  was  not,  as  the  mass  of  the  Mormon  people  are  taught 
to  believe,  arbitrarily  confiscated  by  the  Edmunds-Tucker  act 
as  a  punishment  of  the  Mormons,  but  necessarily  followed  the 
rightful  and  praiseworthy  disapproval  by  that  measure  of 
a  vicious  and  wrongful  act  of  a  Mormon  legislature.  Many 
persons  throughout  the  country  who  are  not  members  of  the 
Mormon  church  believe  that  the  Edmunds-Tucker  act  arbi- 
trarily confiscated  the  church  property,  and  regard  the  act  as 
an  oppressive  one  evidently  because  they  have  been  misin- 
formed respecting  the  facts,  and  do  not  know  the  circum- 
stances which  caused  and  justified  the  escheating  of  the  church 
property.  Upon  the  disapproval  by  Congress  of  the  act  in- 
corporating the  Mormon  church  and  the  dissolution  of  that 
corporation,  and  the  escheating  of  the  property  which  resulted 
therefrom,  the  sixteenth  section  of  the  Edmunds-Tucker  act, 
in  accordance  with  the  settled  practice  of  the  courts  in  such 
instances,  prescribed  the  method  of  winding  up  the  affairs  of 
the  dissolved  corporation,  and  is  as  follows : 

"That  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  attorney  general  of  the 
United  States  to  cause  such  proceedings  to  be  taken  in  the 
supreme  court  of  the  Territory  of  Utah  as  shall  be  proper  to 
carry  into  effect  the  provisions  of  the  preceding  section,  and 
to  pay  the  debts  and  dispose  of  the  property  and  assets  of 
said  corporation  according  to  law.  Said  property  and  assets 
in  excess  of  the  debts,  and  the  amount  of  any  lawful  claims 
established  by  the  court  against  the  same,  shall  escheat  to  the 
1  Tnited  States,  and  shall  be  taken,  invested,  and  disposed  of 
by  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior  under  the  direction  of  the 
President  of  the  United  States,  for  the  benefit  of  common 
schools  in  said  Territory." 

The  discussion  was  carried  on  at  various  meetings  of  the 
committee  for  several  weeks,  after  which  the  committee  unan- 
imously adopted  the  report  presented  by  Mr.  Tucker,  the 
chairman  recommending  the  passage  of  the  act ;  also  a  report 
recommending  the  passage  of  a  resolution  authorizing  the 
amendment  of  the  constitution  of  the  United  States  defining 

176 


polygamy  and  unlawful  cohabitation,  and  vesting  Congress 
with  the  power  to  legislate  respecting  the  same.  In  Mr. 
Tucker's  report  of  that  resolution,  he,  among  other  things, 
said: 

"The  evils  of  the  Mormon  system  are  deeper  than  can 
be  cured  by  ordinary  legislation.  To  punish  the  offender  may 
be  accomplished  by  law,  but  to  extirpate  the  system,  to  erad- 
icate it  from  this  Union  of  free  and  civilized  commonwealths, 
will  require  a  change  in  the  constitution  of  the  United  States. 
If  a  polygamist  can  claim  the  privilege  of  having  plural  wives 
because  of  his  religion,  and  the  monogamist  cannot  because 
he  has  no  such  religion,  or  the  former  is  granted  immunity  for 
his  crime  because  of  his  conscience,  which  is  refused  to  the 
latter,  then  a  privilege  to  do  the  act  and  immunity  from  pun- 
ishment for  so  doing  will  accord  to  one  man  that  which  is 
denied  to  another,  and  as  a  reward  for  the  religion  of  the  one 
and  as  a  penalty  for  that  of  the  other.  In  other  words,  if  the 
fact  that  the  Mormon  belief  in  polygamy  as  commanded  of  God 
could  prevent  the  government  from  punishing  the  Mormons 
for  it,  while  it  punished  anti-Mormons,  it  would  be  preferring 
that  religion  to  all  others  by  shielding  its  adherents  from  a 
penalty  inflicted  without  mercy  on  all  who  would  not  profess 
its  creed ;  or  if  to  prevent  this  preference  the  law  was  an- 
nulled entirely  as  to  all,  it  would  create  the  supremacy  of  this 
one  system  of  religion  over  the  civil  authority  of  the  govern- 
ment, and  take  from  the  government  all  power  to  mould  its 
policy  except  in  conformity  to  the  Mormon  creed.  Polygamy 
could  not  be  made  a  crime  by  the  government  because  sanc- 
tioned by  the  Mormon  religion!  What  better  example  of  an 
established  religion  could  be  given  than  this  would  be?  A 
union  of  Church  and  State  in  which  the  Church  would  be 
supreme,  and  the  State  subordinate." 

After  Wilford  Woodruff,  president  of  the  Mormon  church, 
issued  the  Manifesto  advising  the  "Latter-day  Saints  to  refrain 
from  contracting  any  marriages  forbidden  by  the  law  of  the 
land,  Congress  passed  an  act  requiring  that  the  escheated 
property  be  returned  to  the  church,  and  the  President  of  the 
United  States  granted  an  amnesty  to  all  Mormon  polygamists 
on  condition  that  they  would  in  the  future  obey  the  law 
against  polygamy.  (See  Appendix). 

At  the  discussion  before  the  committee,  the  church  was 
represented  by  the  following  named  persons  employed  by  it : 
Hon.  Jefferson  Chandler,  distinguished  attorney;  Franklin  S. 
Richards;  A.  M.  Gibson;  Hon.  Geo.  S.  Boutwell;  Epa  Hunton, 

177 


ex-senator  from  Virgina,  and  Joseph  A.  West.  John  T.  Caine, 
the  delegate  from  Utah,  also  appeared  and  addressed  the  com- 
mittee in  opposition  to  the  bill. 

I  represented  the  Gentiles. 

In  the  territorial  legislature  of  1892  a  majority  of  the 
upper  house  Committee  on  Memorials  made  a  report  recom- 
mending the  passage  of  a  memorial  praying  Congress  to 
repeal  the  Poland  act  of  1874,  the  Edmunds  law  of  1882,  and 
the  Edmunds-Tucker  act  of  1887,  and  to  admit  the  Territory 
into  the  Union. 

James  Glendinning  and  myself  were  the  only  members 
of  that  committee  belonging  to  the  Liberal  party,  and  joined 
in  a  minority  report  which  I  drew  up,  and  which  is  as  follows : 

"The  majority  of  the  Committee  on  Memorials,  to  whom 
was  referred  C.  J.  M.  No.  2,  having  reported  the  same  back 
and  recommended  its  passage,  and  the  minority  being  unable 
to  concur  in  said  report,  or  give  assent  to  the  statements  con- 
tained in  the  memorial,  respectfully  submit  the  following 
minority  report : 

"  'While  Congress  has  the  sole  power  to  legislate  for 
the  government  of  the  Territory,  yet  at  an  early  day  it  adopted 
the  method  of  governing  the  territories  in  all  matters  of  local 
policy  through  the  agency  of  the  people  inhabiting  the  terri- 
tories. It  was  intended  and  expected  that  each  Territory,  in 
accordance  with  the  true  intent  and  spirit  of  the  agency 
delegated  to  it,  would  pass  and  faithfully  execute  such  laws 
as  experience  has  pointed  out  as  being  essential  to  the  proper 
regulation  and  government  of  American  communities,  and 
to  the  laying  of  the  foundation  of  a  new  state  on  the  American 
and  democratic  plan,  with  institutions  in  harmony  with 
the  other  states  of  the  Union.  The  Territory  of  Utah 
was  given  substantially  the  same  Organic  Act  under 
which  other  territories  have  founded  new  and  prosper- 
ous states,  but  in  Utah  the  agency  granted  to  the 
Territory  by  the  Organic  Act,  under  the  domination 
of  the  Mormon  church,  has  been  used,  not  to  lay  the 
foundation  of  a  new  State  on  the  American  plan,  but  to  estab- 
lish a  system  which,  as  Mr.  Tucker  in  his  report  on  the 
Edmunds-Tucker  Bill  expressed  it,  "is  directly  antagonistic 
to  all  ideas  of  European  and  American  civilization,"  and  which 
as  further  expressed  by  Mr.  Tucker,  "presents  the  alternative 
of  admitting  a  polygamous  State  into  the  Union,  or  one  from 
which  polygamy  was  excluded  as  a  Territory,  but  may  be 
restored  by  the  new  State  after  admission/' 

178 


"  'Congress  first  expressed  the  sense  of  the  nation  against 
this  abuse  of  territorial  agency  by  the  passage  of  the  act 
against  polygamy  in  1862.  This  law  for  many  years  remained 
a  dead  letter  on  the  statute,  because  under  the  laws  passed  by 
the  legislature,  the  selection  of  the  grand  and  petit  juries 
was  in  the  hands  of  territorial  officers  who  yielded  allegiance 
to  the  church  and  were  subservient  to  its  will.  Congress  was 
therefore  forced  to  resort  to  additional  legislation,  and  it 
passed  the  Poland  bill  of  1874.  The  provisions  of  this  bill 
took  from  these  faithless  territorial  officers  all  their  power  and 
established  the  present  jury  system  of  which  the  memorial 
complains. 

"  The  law  of  1862,  after  the  passage  of  the  Poland  bill, 
still  remained  unexecuted,  because  under  the  law  of  1862 
the  gist  of  the  crime  of  polygamy  was  the  solemnization  of 
the  marriage  ceremony,  and  all  polygamous  marriages  were 
performed  in  the  secret  precincts  of  the  endowment  house  of 
the  Mormon  church,  and  those  present  were  sworn  under 
severe  penalties  to  reveal  nothing  that  therein  transpired. 
Congress  was  therefore  again  forced  to  resort  to  legislation  to 
prevent  the  execution  of  this  law  from  being  defeated.  The 
Edmunds  law  of  1882  was  accordingly  passed.  Its  provisions 
were  also  complained  of  in  the  memorial. 

"  'Notwithstanding  the  passage  of  these  laws,  still  the 
opposition  by  the  priesthood  of  the  Mormon  church  to  their 
execution  was  successfully  continued,  and  Congress  was  again 
forced  to  resort  to  still  more  rigid  measures.  In  1887  the 
Edmunds-Tucker  Law  was  passed. 

"  'From  these  statements  it  will  be  seen  that  Congress 
was  forced  to  pass  the  foregoing  measures  by  the  unjustifiable 
contumacy  of  a  church,  the  membership  of  which  embraces 
an  overwhelming  majority  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  Territory. 
The  memorial  aims  at  the  repeal  of  these  measures,  and  asks 
for  the  passage  of  a  law  by  Congress  which  will  place  in  the 
hands  of  this  contumacious  majority,  powers  far  greater  than 
any  which  have  ever  been  extended  to  those  territories  which 
have  at  all  times  been  true  in  the  execution  of  their  agency. 

"  'The  admission  of  the  Territory  into  the  Union  is  also 
asked  for.  The  granting  of  this  request  would  place  the 
powers  of  the  State  in  the  hands  of  a  church  whose  history 
and  whose  tenets  make  it  both  probable  and  possible  that, 
protected  by  the  safeguards  which  a  State  under  our  system 
would  afford,  the  priesthood  would  revive  the  suspended  revel- 
ation of  polygamy.  In  determining  the  propriety  of  repealing 
the  existing  law  of  Congress  referred  to  by  the  passage  of 
either  the  Teller  or  Faulkner  bills,  what  has  been  and  is  still 
being  accomplished  under  those  laws  should  be  carefully 
considered. 

179 


"'Immediately  following  the  passage  of  the  Edmunds- 
Tucker  bill  there  came  a  boom  unprecedented  in  the  history  of 
the  Territory.  Salt  Lake  City  and  Ogden,  the  now  leading 
towns  of  the  Territory,  have  doubled  their  population.  The 
former  has  grown  into  a  magnificent,  metropolitan  city.  A 
school  system  which  before  was  disgraceful,  has  given  way 
to  one  which  would  be  a  credit  to  any  community.  The 
incommodious  and  poorly  ventilated  school  houses  (in  Salt 
Lake  City)  have  been  replaced  by  others  of  modern  architect- 
ure— roomy,  convenient,  well-lighted  and  properly  ventilated. 

"  'Large  amounts  of  capital  have  been  invested,  and  are 
still  seeking  investments.  The  industries  and  business  of 
the  Territory  were  never  in  such  prosperous  and  healthy 
condition.  The  present  advancement  which  is  being  made  is 
as  great  as  the  most  sanguine  could  expect,  and  nearly  the 
entire  Gentile  population  is  satisfied  with  the  present  pros- 
perity of  the  Territory  and  the  promise  of  continued  advance- 
ment. They  do  not  feel  that  Utah  has  yet  been  freed  from 
her  humiliation  and  disgrace,  but  that  she  is  being  gradually 
lifted  to  the  exalted  position  she  would  have  occupied  had  she 
not  been  retarded  by  the  opposition  which  forced  Congress 
to  enact  and  enforce  the  laws  which  have  produced  and  still 
are  producing  such  magic  changes. 

"  'In  the  opinion  of  the  minority,  the  commercial  and 
business  interests  of  the  whole  Territory — the  interests  of  both 
the  Gentile  and  Mormon  inhabitants  alike — demand  that  the 
Territory  be  left  alone,  so  far  as  congressional  legislation  is 
concerned,  until  the  forces  which  are  actively  at  work  solve 
the  Utah  problem.  If  left  alone,  the  desired  end  will  be 
reached  sooner;  but  the  passage  of  either  of  the  bills  mentioned 
in  the  memorial  (the  Teller  and  Faulkner  bills)  will  prove 
detrimental — will  complicate  the  affairs  of  the  Territory  and 
prolong  the  time  of  final  settlement  of  the  Utah  problem.  In 
the  opinion  of  the  minority  of  your  committee  it  would  be 
dangerous  and  disastrous  to  admit  the  Territory  into  the 
Union  before  the  constitution  of  the  United  States  is  amended 
so  as  to  prohibit  polygamy,  and  give  to  Congress  jurisdiction 
to  pass  laws  for  its  enforcement,  and  until  after  the  lapse  of 
sufficient  time  in  which  to  test  the  sincerity  of  the  new  de- 
parture (the  Manifesto),  and  until  the  Gentile  population  shall 
have  become  strong  enough  to  protect  themselves  and  Ameri- 
can institutions  in  the  new  State. 

"  'The  charges  made  in  the  memorial  against  the  Utah 
Commission  are  false.  However,  such  charges  are  not  a  mat- 
ter of  surprise,  because  from  the  early  infancy  of  the  Terri- 
tory up  to  the  present  time;  few,  if  any,  federal  officers  of 
the  Territory  who  have  been  faithful  and  vigilant  in  the 
execution  of  the  federal  laws,  have  escaped  vituperation  and 
slander.'  " 

180 


A  bill  containing  the  same  provisions  as  the  first  and 
third  sections  of  the  Edmunds  law  of  1882  was  passed  by  the 
territorial  legislature  in  1892.  The  first  section  of  that  law 
prohibited  polygamy  and  prescribed  the  penalty  for  its  viola- 
tion ;  but  it  was  as  ineffective,  for  the  reason  which  I  have 
heretofore  stated,  as  the  anti-polygamy  law  of  1862  had  been. 
The  third  section  made  the  cohabitation  of  any  male  person 
with  more  than  one  woman  in  the  Territory  a  misdemeanor, 
punishable  by  fine  of  not  more  than  $300,  or  by  imprisonment 
for  not  more  than  six  months,  or  by  both  of  said  punishments. 
This  section  proved  to  be  very  effective,  and  its  provisions 
are  the  only  ones  under  which  Mormon  polygamists  have  ever 
been  or  can  be  successfully  prosecuted  in  Utah. 

During  the  term  of  that  able  and  impartial  judge,  Chief 
Justice  Charles  S.  Zane,  numerous  polygamist  Mormons  were 
convicted  for  violating  the  provisions  of  that  section  in  the 
court  over  which  he  presided.  The  important  decisions  sus- 
taining the  laws  of  Congress  relating  to  the  Mormon  problem 
delivered  by  him  and  for  which  he  was  decried  by  the  leading 
members  of  the  Mormon  church,  were  all  reviewed  and  af- 
firmed by  the  supreme  court  of  the  United  States. 

As  the  first  and  third  sections  of  the  Edmunds  laws  re- 
mained in  force  from  their  passage  in  1882  until  the  admis- 
sion of  Utah  as  a  State  in  1896,  their  re-enactment  in  1892 
by  the  Mormon  territorial  legislature  was  farcical  and  nuga- 
tory; because  during  the  time  the  Edmunds  law  was  in 
force  it  was  paramount,  and  no  prosecutions  for  the  crimes 
therein  prohibited  were  permissible  under  any  act  of  the 
territorial  legislature. 

The  evident  purpose  of  said  re-enactment  was  to  induce 
the  people  of  the  United  States  to  believe  that  polygamy 
and  the  temporal  power  of  the  priesthood  no  longer  existed 
in  the  Territory,  and  thereby  strengthen  the  memorial  before 
mentioned  and  aid  the  movement  for  the  admission  of  the 
Territory  into  the  Union. 

Section  4611  of  the  Revised  Statutes  of  Utah  of  1898 
provides  that  "every  person  who  has  reason  to  believe  that 
a  crime  or  public  offense  has  been  committed,  must  make 
complaint  against  such  person  before  some  magistrate  having 
authority  to  make  inquiry  of  the  same."  If  that  section  had 
been  observed  many  members  of  the  Mormon  church  who  have 

181 


been  guilty  of  polygamy  since  the  Woodruff  manifesto,  but 
who  have  escaped  punishment,  would  at  least  have  been 
exposed,  if  not  convicted. 

In  order  to  exclude  polygamous  practices  from  the  opera- 
tion of  that  section,  the  Mormon  members  of  the  State  legis- 
lature in  1901  passed  a  bill  which  amended  it  by  adding  the 
following  provisions  at  the  end  of  the  same :  "Provided,  that 
no  prosecution  for  adultery  shall  be  commenced  except  on 
the  complaint  of  the  husband  or  legal  wife  of  the  accused, 
and  no  prosecution  for  unlawful  cohabitation  shall  be  com- 
menced except  on  the  complaint  of  the  legal  wife  of  the 
accused." 

The  evident  purpose  of  that  bill  was  to  secure  immunity 
to  polygamy.  Governor  Heber  M.  Wells,  though  a  Mormon 
and  scion  of  a  father  deep  in  the  depths  of  plural  marriage, 
evinced  his  good  sense  and  courage  by  vetoing  the  bill ;  but 
notwithstanding  that  the  section  sought  to  be  amended  has 
remained  in  force  ever  since  its  enactment,  polygamy  has 
been  continually  practiced  with  impunity  by  members  of  the 
Mormon  church,  and  numerous  new  plural  marriages  have 
been  entered  into  by  them.  In  view  of  the  fact  that  such 
marriages  are  secretly  formed  and  have,  except  in  a  very  few 
instances,  always  been  successfully  concealed,  no  doubt  many 
unknown  to  those  not  members  of  the  church  have  been 
solemnized  since  the  manifesto.  No  doubt,  too,  there  are 
many  instances  of  the  violation  of  the  law  against  unlawful 
cohabitation  by  members  of  the  church  who  had  married 
plural  wives  previous  to  the  manifesto,  which  are  likewise 
unknown. 

Since  the  manifesto,  and  the  admission  of  the  Territory 
as  a  State,  many  known  plural  marriages  have  been  performed, 
and  the  Salt  Lake  Tribune  has  published  two  hundred  and 
thirty  such  marriages  which  have  occurred  since  the  Woodruff 
mandate,  and  in  the  publication  of  each  plural  marriage  the 
names  and  residence  of  the  parties  thereto  were  stated.  Up 
to  the  present  time  not  one  of  the  guilty  parties  have  ever 
been  arrested  bv  the  civil  authorities  of  the  State. 


182 


CHAPTER  XV. 
The  Cullom-Struble  Bill  the  "Last  Straw." 

It  is  true,  as  alleged  in  Vol.  Ill,  page  720,  of  Whitney's 
history,  that  I  carried  to  Washington  a  bill  introduced  by 
Senator  Cullom  in  the  Senate  which  was  referred  to  the  Senate 
Committee  on  Territories  of  which  Mr.  Cullom  was  a  member, 
and  was  also  introduced  in  the  House  by  Mr.  Struble  and  re- 
ferred to  the  Committee  on  Territories,  of  which  he  was 
chairman.  The  bill  was  drawn  by  me,  and  provided  in  sub- 
stance that  no  person  living  in  plural  or  celestial  marriage, 
or  who  taught,  advised  or  counseled  any  person  to  enter  into 
polygamy;  or  who  was  a  member  of  or  contributed  to  the 
support,  aid  or  encouragement  of  any  organization  that  taught 
or  sanctioned  that  practice ;  or  who  participated  or  aided  in 
the  solemnization  of  any  polygamous  marriage,  should  vote, 
serve  as  juror  or  hold  any  office  in  the  Territory.  The  bill 
also  required  each  person,  upon  applying  for  registration  as 
an  elector,  to  show  that  he  was  qualified  as  such  by  taking 
the  test-oath,  the  form  of  which  was  therein  prescribed. 

Mr.  Whitney  severely  criticized  that  measure  and  my 
connection  therewith.  That  its  provisions  were  valid  is  clear, 
for  in  the  case  of  Davis  v.  Beason,  in  133  U.  S.  Rep.,  page 
341,  the  supreme  court  of  the  United  States  sustained  the 
validity  of  similar  provisions  of  a  bill  enacted  by  the  territorial 
legislature  of  Idaho,  which  had  been  introduced  by  Col.  Enos 
Wall,  now  of  Salt  Lake  City.  Mr.  Justice  Field  in  the  opinion 
delivered  by  him  made  the  following  comment : 

"Bigamy  and  polygamy  are  crimes  by  the  laws  of  all 
civilized  and  Christian  countries.  They  are  crimes  by  the 
laws  of  the  United  States,  and  they  are  crimes  by  the  law  of 
Idaho.  They  tend  to  destroy  the  purity  of  the  marriage  rela- 
tion, to  disturb  the  peace  of  families,  to  degrade  women  and 
debase  man.  Few  crimes  are  more  pernicious  to  the  best 
interests  of  society  and  receive  more  general  or  more  deserved 
punishment.  To  extend  exemption  from  punishment  for  such 
crimes  would  be  to  shock  the  moral  judgment  of  the  com- 
munity. To  call  their  advocacy  a  tenet  of  religion  is  to  offend 
the  common  sense  of  mankind.  If  they  are  crimes,  then  to 

183 


teach,  advise,  and  counsel  their  practice  is  to  aid  in  their  com- 
mission, and  such  teachings  and  counseling  are  themselves 
criminal  and  proper  subjects  of  punishment,  as  aiding  and 
abetting  crimes  are  in  all  other  cases." 

Not  only,  then,  was  the  bill  valid,  but  its  introduction  was 
justified  and  rendered  necessary  because  the  previous  strin- 
gent acts  of  Congress  which  had  been  passed  to  correct  the 
evil  conditions  then  existing  in  Utah  had  failed  to  accomplish 
their  purpose ;  though  notwithstanding  their  validity,  and  that 
they  had  in  every  instance  been  sustained  by  the  highest  court 
of  the  country,  the  hierarchy  of  the  Mormon  church  was  still 
recalcitrant  and  retained  its  absolute  control  of  territorial 
political  affairs.  This  control  it  abused  by  not  only  establish- 
ing and  maintaining  an  anti-American,  pernicious  system  and 
defeating  the  execution,  especially  of  the  laws  punishing 
polygamy,  and  of  a  particular  class  of  assassination  prevalent 
in  the  Territory.  The  purpose  of  the  bill  was  to  wrest  from 
the  hands  of  the  priesthood  the  political  power  which  it  had 
so  long  wrongfully  usurped  and  shamefully  abused. 

After  a  full  discussion  of  the  bill  before  the  House  Com- 
mittee on  Territories,  when  Governor  West  and  myself  had 
spoken  in  favor  of  its  passage,  and  John  T.  Caine,  Franklin  S. 
Richards  and  Jeremiah  M.  Wilson  had  spoken  in  opposition, 
the  committee  made  a  report  to  the  House  in  favor  of  its 
passage.  After  a  like  discussion  of  the  bill  before  the  Senate 
Committee  on  Territories,  and  the  committee  had  decided  to 
make  a  report  to  the  Senate  favoring  its  passage,  I  was  in- 
formed by  Senator  Cullom  that  he  had  been  assured  by  a  dele- 
gation of  prominent  Mormons,  that  if  further  action  on  the  bill 
was  delayed  for  a  reasonable  time,  the  practice  of  polygamy 
would  be  prohibited  by  the  Mormon  church,  and  that  the 
delegation  had  requested  that  further  action  on  the  bill  be 
temporarily  delayed.  The  same  assurance  was  given  to  Mr. 
Struble,  and  the  request  for  delay  was  granted,  but  with  the 
express  understanding  that  if  polygamy  was  not  prohibited 
within  a  reasonable  time  vigorous  steps  would  be  taken  to 
procure  the  passage  of  the  bill. 

Whitney's  history,  Vol.  Ill,  page  743,  contains  in  sub- 
stance the  following: 

"Among  those  who  went  to  Washington  to  work  against 
the  Cullom-Struble  bill  was  Hon.  Geo.  Q.  Cannon,  Bishop 

184 


Clawson,  Col.  Isaac  Trumbo  and  Frank  J.  Cannon,  the  latter 
of  whom,  having  applied  in  vain  to  Senator  Edmunds  and 
other  stalwart  Republicans,  called  upon  James  G.  Elaine,  and 
his  powerful  hand  was  interposed  with  the  understanding 
that  something  would  be  done  by  the  Mormons  to  meet  the 
exigency  of  the  situation." 

Evidently  he  had  been  informed  that  the  church  authori- 
ties contemplated  prohibiting  polygamy. 

The  following  are  statements  of  Frank  J.  Cannon,  con- 
tained in  Chapter  III,  of  his  articles  published  in  Everybody's 
Magazine : 

"When  the  progress  of  the  Cullom-Struble  bill  began  to 
make  its  threatening  advance,  my  father  went  secretly  to 
Washington,  and  a  short  time  afterward  word  came  to  me  in 
Ogden,  through  the  Presidency,  that  he  wished  me  to  arrange 
my  business  affairs  for  a  long  absence  from  Utah,  and  follow 
him  to  the  Capital.  I  found  him  there  in  the  office  of  Delegate 
John  T.  Caine.  The  Cullom-Struble  bill  had  been  favorably 
considered  by  the  Committee  on  Territories,  and  the  disfran- 
chisement  of  all  the  Mormons  in  Utah  seemed  imminent. 
Every  argument,  political,  and  legal,  had  been  used  against 
the  measure  in  vain." 

After  having  stated  that  he  had  interviewed  Mr.  Elaine 
and  a  member  of  the  Committee  on  Territories,  he  further 
said: 

"I  went  to  other  members  of  the  committee,  privately, 
and  told  them  that  the  Mormon  church  was  about  to  make 
a  concession  concerning  the  doctrine  of  polygamy.  I  told 
them  so  in  confidence,  pointing  out  the  necessity  of  secrecy, 
since  to  make  public  the  news  of  such  a  proceeding  in  advance 
would  be  to  prevent  the  church  from  authorizing  it.  *  *  * 
It  remained  to  make  our  safety  permanent,  and  I  took  train 
for  Utah,  on  my  father's  counsel,  to  see  President  Woodruff. 
I  had  given  my  word  that  'something  was  to  be  done.'  I  went 
to  plead  that  it  should  be  done,  and  done  speedily.  I  told 
him  (Woodruff)  in  detail  of  the  events  in  Washington,  and 
of  the  men  who  had  helped  us  in  them.  I  warned  him  that 
the  passage  of  the  measure  of  disfranchisement  had  been  no 
more  than  retarded.  I  pointed  out  the  fatal  consequences  for 
the  community  if  the  bill  should  ever  become  a  law ;  the  fatal 
conseqences  for  the  leaders  of  the  church  if  the  non-polygamist 
Mormons,  deprived  of  their  votes,  were  ever  left  unable  to 
control  the  administration  of  local  government.  I  repeated 
the  promises  that  my  father  had  authorized  me  to  carry  to 
the  senators  and  congressmen  who  still  had  the  Cullom-Struble 

185 


bill  in  hand ;  and  I  emphasized  the  fact  that  because  of  this 
promise  the  bill  had  been  held  back  with  the  certainty  that 
it  would  never  become  a  law  if  we  met  the  nation  half  way. 
To  this  statement  he  (Woodruff)  said  sadly :  'I  had  hoped  we 
wouldn't  have  to  meet  this  trouble  this  way.  You  know 
what  it  means  to  our  people.  Did  your  father  tell  you,'  he 
asked,  'that  I  had  been  seeking  the  mind  of  the  Lord?'  I  re- 
plied that  he  had." 

Woodruff,  as  president  of  the  Mormon  church,  issued  a 
manifesto  advising  the  Latter-day  Saints  to  refrain  from 
contracting  any  marriages  forbidden  by  the  law  of  the  land. 
The  Cullom-Struble  bill  was  not  passed,  but  its  pendency 
was  the  "last  straw  which  broke  the  camel's  back."  Evidently 
its  pendency  forced  the  issuance  of  the  manifesto. 


186 


CHAPTER  XVI. 
The  Effort  for  the  Admission  of  Utah  That  Failed. 

To  extricate  the  high  officers  of  the  Mormon  church  from 
the  dilemma  they  were  in  on  account  of  the  passage  and 
vigorous  and  effective  execution  of  the  Edmunds  act  of  1882, 
and  after  most  of  them  had  for  years  been  in  hiding  to  avoid 
arrest,  a  vigorous  effort  was  made  by  the  Mormons  previous 
to  the  announcement  of  the  Woodruff  manifesto  to  procure 
statehood  for  Utah.  In  1888,  an  application  having  been  made 
to  Congress  for  the  admission  of  Utah,  I  was  requested  by 
a  committee  of  Gentiles  to  go  to  Washington  and  oppose  its 
admission,  which  I  did.  Franklin  S.  Richards,  John  T.  Caine, 
Jeremiah  M.  Wilson,  a  distinguished  attorney,  and  Joseph  M. 
McDonald  of  Indiana,  appeared  before  the  Senate  Committee 
on  Territories  and  spoke  in  favor  of  admission.  Senator 
Dubois  and  myself  appeared  and  spoke  in  opposition.  The 
following  quotation  from  the  published  proceedings  before  the 
committee  shows  the  ground  of  my  opposition : 

"Mr.  Baskin  of  Utah  Territory,  on  behalf  of  the  Gentiles 
of  that  Territory,  addressed  the  committee  as  follows : 

"  'While  the  theocratic  tenet  of  the  Mormon  church  is  as 
great  if  not  a  greater  evil  than  polygamy,  and  as  much 
opposed  to  our  American  institutions,  polygamy  is  the  feature 
most  antagonistic  to  the  sentiment  of  the  nation,  and  against 
which  the  laws  of  Congress  relating  to  the  Mormon  problem 
have  been  more  directly  aimed.  The  political  power  of  Utah 
Territory,  by  the  grace  of  Congress  placed  and  kept  in  the 
hands  of  the  Mormon  hierarchy,  has  been  and  still  is  the  main 
prop  and  shield  of  the  Mormon  system.  This  power  has  been 
its  greatest  protection,  has  stimulated  its  growth,  and  still 
preserves  its  existence.  Without  the  possession  of  this  power 
by  the  Mormons,  polygamy  could  never  have  reached  its 
present  status,  or  Mormonism  ever  have  become  a  difficult 
national  problem. 

The  perpetuity  of  the  objectionable  features  of  the 
Mormon  system  is  dependent  upon  the  perpetuation  of  the 
political  power  of  the  church.  The  elimination  of  polygamy 
and  theocratic  rule  would  leave  nothing  vital  in  the  system 
obnoxious  to  American  sentiment.  The  Mormon  church,  fully 

187 


realizing  the  great  importance  of  the  political  power  prac- 
tically, though  not  in  form,  placed  in  its  hands  by  the  Organic 
Act  of  the  Territory,  with  a  zeal  worthy  of  a  better  cause 
has  stubbornly  fought  every  measure  introduced  into  Congress 
for  the  punishment  of  polygamy,  or  tending  to  curtail  the 
power  of  the  Mormon  hierarchy,  and  as  far  as  it  was  practicable 
used  the  power  of  the  Territory  to  defeat  the  execution  of  all 
laws  of  the  government  abridging  Mormon  power  or  punish- 
ing Mormon  practices.  In  1862  Congress  began  to  remove  the 
safeguard  which  the  Mormon  legislature  had  thrown  around 
the  peculiar  institutions  and  practices  of  the  church,  and 
protected  by  which  safeguards  the  hierarchy  had  become  con- 
fident, bold  and  arrogant.  Congress  continued  to  advance 
by  very  slow  approaches  in  the  same  direction,  and  by  the 
passage  of  what  is  known  as  the  Poland  law  of  1874,  the 
Edmunds  law  of  1882,  and  the  Edmunds-Tucker  law  of  1887, 
placed  the  Mormons  in  a  position  of  great  distress.  The 
leaders  at  last  began  to  realize  that  the  government  of  the 
United  States  was  more  powerful  than  the  government  of  the 
Mormon  church.  The  heads  of  this  hostile  government  within 
the  national  government  fled  to  places  of  concealment  to 
escape  punishment,  and  have  remained  concealed  for  nearly 
four  years.  The  discussions  in  Congress,  and  the  comments 
of  the  press  of  the  country  on  the  passage  of  the  measures 
before  referred  to,  revealed  the  fact,  alarming  to  the  Mormons, 
that  there  is  a  growing  public  sentiment  in  the  country  in 
favor  of  the  passage  of  a  law  by  Congress  taking  the  political 
power  of  Utah  out  of  the  hands  of  those  who  have  wrongfully 
used  it  to  build  up  and  protect  a  system  diametrically  opposed 
to  American  institutions.  The  dilemma  of  the  leaders  and  the 
growing  public  sentiment  threatening  its  very  life  (political 
power)  has  forced  upon  the  Mormon  church  the  necessity  of 
the  departure  which  has  been  taken  in  the  matter  of  the 
recent  application  for  statehood,  under  a  constitution — ostensi- 
bly, but  not  in  reality — prohibiting  the  practice  of  that  feature 
of  the  Mormon  system,  the  prohibition  and  authority  to  punish 
which  in  a  constitution  framed  and  adopted  by  members  of 
the  church  it  was  thought  would  do  most  to  appease  public 
sentiment,  and  turn  it  in  favor  of  the  scheme  of  statehood. 
The  departure  is  artfully  strategic,  is  intended  to  deceive,  and 
is  well  calculated  to  accomplish  that  purpose.  The  ends 
really  sought  to  be  attained  by  the  admission  of  Utah  is  the 
perpetuation  of  the  theocratic  power  of  the  church,  the  rescue 
of  the  system  of  celestial  or  plural  marriage,  as  taught  and 
practiced,  from  threatened  destruction,  the  rescue  of  its 
leaders  and  other  polygamists  from  arrest  and  punishment, 
and  the  securement  of  amenity  to  polygamy.  The  admittance 
of  Utah  under  the  constitution  presented  to  Congress  would 
successfully  accomplish  these  ends.  The  admission  of  Utah 

188 


at  any  time  in  the  future  while  the  church  holds  dominant 
political  control  in  the  Territory  will  accomplish  the  same 
end,  whatever  may  be  the  provisions  of  the  constitution  under 
which  the  Territory  shall  be  admitted.  In  proof  of  the  fact 
that  this  movement  is  not  made  in  good  faith,  and  that  its 
success  would  accomplish  the  ends  above  indicated,  the  follow- 
ing facts  are  submitted : 

"  'On  the  17th  day  of  June  last,  without  any  agitation 
of  the  question  of  statehood  among  the  masses,  or  any  previous 
notice  to  the  public  of  such  a  movement,  on  behalf  of  the 
central  committee  of  the  People's  party — an  organization  with- 
in the  church  for  the  purposes  of  the  church,  composed  ex- 
clusively of  Mormons — the  following  communication  was  ad- 
dressed to  the  chairman  of  the  Democratic  central  committee 
of  Utah : 

"The  territorial  committee  of  the  People's  party,  con- 
sidering that  the  time  is  propitious  for  an  application  for 
admission  into  the  Union  of  the  Territory  of  Utah,  has 
called  mass  conventions  to  be  held  in  the  several  counties, 
June  25th,  to  nominate  delegates  to  a  constitutional  con- 
vention to  be  held  in  this  city  June  30th,  1887.  It  is 
desired  that  the  movement  be  made  as  general  as  possible, 
and  that  all  classes  of  the  people  of  the  Territory  shall 
participate  in  it.  We  therefore  solicit  the  co-operation  of 
the  Democratic  party  of  Utah,  and  through  you  as  its 
chairman,  we  respectfully  invite  your  committee  and  your 
party  to  take  an  active  part  in  the  mass  convention,  and 
to  assist  in  the  nomination  of  delegates  to  the  constitu- 
tional convention,  with  the  understanding  that  if  you  ac- 
cept the  invitation  your  party  shall  be  accorded  a  thorough 
representation  in  the  convention. 

"By  order  of  the  People's  Territorial  Central 
Committee. 

"(Signed)  J.  R.  WINDER,  Chairman." 

"  'A  similar  communication  was  addressed  to  the  chair- 
man of  the  Republican  committee.  In  thirteen  days  from  the 
date  of  these  communications  a  constitutional  convention 
convened  in  Salt  Lake  City  composed  almost  exclusively  of 
Mormons,  adopted  the  constitution  which  at  the  last  general 
election,  without  any  authority  of  law,  in  an  irregular  manner, 
was  ratified  by  the  mass  of  the  Mormons  at  the  polls.  As  the 
Gentiles  of  the  Territory  did  not  deem  the  time  auspicious 
for  the  admission  of  Utah,  they  did  not  vote  upon  the  question 
of  the  adoption  of  the  constitution.  Under  this  constitution, 
application  for  the  admission  of  Utah  Territory  has  been  made 
and  is  being  urged  upon  Congress.  Article  XV,  section  12, 
of  this  constitution  contains  the  following  clause : 

189 


"Bigamy  and  polygamy  being  considered  incompatible 
with  a  republican  form  of  government,  each  of  them  is 
hereby  forbidden  and  declared  a  misdemeanor." 

"  'It  is  a  pregnant  fact  that  should  be  noted,  that  this 
clause  does  not  state  what  acts  shall  constitute  the  crimes 
of  bigamy  and  polygamy,  and  that  the  cohabitation  clause  of 
the  Edmunds  law,  the  only  provision  punishing  polygamic 
practices  that  has  ever  been  effective,  was  not  inserted. 
Bigamy  and  polygamy,  in  general  terms,  are  the  only  crimes 
prohibited.  Celestial  marriage  is  not  mentioned.  Yet  celestial 
marriage  is  the  system  which  the  Mormons  claim  was  re- 
vealed to  the  church,  and  is  the  only  system  of  plural  mar- 
riage practiced  by  them  or  accepted  as  a  tenet  to  the  Mormon 
church.  They  claim,  further,  that  celestial  marriage  is  en- 
tirely different  from  either  bigamy  or  polygamy,  and  deny 
that  they  practice  the  last  named  crimes,  or  that  either  is 
permitted  or  tolerated  in  the  church.  What  follows,  shows 
their  views  upon  this  subject.  The  Deseret  News,  which  is 
the  official  organ  of  the  church,  on  May  20,  1886,  contains 
the  following : 

"Polygamy,  in  the  ordinary  Asiatic  sense  of  the  term, 
never  was,  and  is  not  now,  a  tenet  of  the  Latter-day 
Saints.  We  have  repeatedly  shown  that  the  Mormon 
system  of  plural  marriage  is  not  bigamy,  and  it  does  not 
contain  the  essential  elements  of  that  offense.  We  have 
also  indicated  that,  properly  speaking,  it  is  not  polygamy. 
In  reviewing  the  message  of  President  Arthur,  we  refuted 
the  statement  made  by  him  that  polygamy  is  the  corner- 
stone of  the  Mormon  church  and  said  polygamy,  speaking 
properly,  is  not  now,  and  has  never  been,  even  a  tenet 
of  the  Mormon  faith.  In  that  statement  we  made  no  at- 
tempt to  deny  the  doctrine  of  celestial  marriage,  which 
is  an  essential  part  of  the  creed  of  the  Latter-day  Saints. 
What  we  claim  is  that  the  Mormon  system  of  marriage 
is,  properly  speaking,  neither  polygamy  nor  bigamy." 

"  'Article  XVI,  section  1,  of  that  constitution  provided 
that  Article  XV,  section  12 — which  prohibits  the  practice  of 
polygamy — shall  not  be  amended  or  revised  in  any  way  except 
by  the  approval  of  Congress. 

'  'The  constitution  of  the  United  States  provides  that 
new  States  may  be  admitted  into  the  Union.  The  time  at 
which  this  power  shall  be  exercised,  and  the  precedent  condi- 
tions which  may  be  required  by  Congress,  is  entirely  left  to 
its  discretion.  In  the  exercise  of  this  discretion  Congress 
may,  if  it  chooses,  dictate  to  the  applicants  any  or  all  of 
the  provisions  of  their  constitution.  But  whatever  may  be 
the  character  of  the  provision  so  imposed  by  Congress  as  a 

190 


prerequisite  for  admission,  the  moment  the  State  is  in  the 
Union  it  is  vested  by  the  express  provision  of  the  constitution 
of  the  United  States  with  all  of  the  rights,  privileges  and 
powers  possessed  by  the  other  States,  and  the  constitution  at 
once  applies  to  such  State  with  the  same  force  and  effect  it 
applies  to  the  other  States.  It  therefore  follows,  that  any 
precedent  conditions  for  admission  imposed  by  Congress 
which  abridges  the  rights  of  the  new  State  in  such  a  manner 
as  to  deprive  it,  when  in  the  Union,  of  the  rights  which  the 
other  States  enjoy,  under  the  provisions  of  that  constitution 
destroys  the  uniform  operation  of  that  instrument,  and  is  null 
and  void.  The  other  States  possess  the  right  to  amend  their 
constitutions. 

'This  question,  however,  is  of  no  practical  importance 
in  this  case,  because  the  Mormons  will  never  disturb  Article 
XII  of  the  constitution  which  they  have  adopted,  because  it 
does  not  apply  to  their  system  of  marriage,  according  to  the 
distinction  which  they  make  between  bigamy  and  polygamy 
and  celestial  marriage,  and  even  if  it  applied,  with  the  powers 
of  a  State  in  their  hands  it  would  be  more  harmless  to  them 
than  the  law  of  1862  against  polygamy  has  been.  Is  it  likely 
that  any  member  of  the  church  would  ever  be  prosecuted  for 
the  violation  of  Article  XII  of  the  constitution,  with  the  ad- 
ministration of  the  criminal  law  of  the  State  in  the  hands  of 
judges,  jurors,  and  prosecuting  officers  who  belong  to  the 
church  and  believe  that  the  practice  of  plural  marriage  by  the 
Saints  has  the  authority  of  divine  revelation?'" 

After  a  full  discussion  of  the  matter  before  the  committee 
Senator  Cullom  reported  the  following  resolution: 

"Resolved,  that  it  is  the  sense  of  the  Senate  Committee 
that  new  States  should  be  admitted  into  the  Union  only  upon 
a  basis  of  equality  with  the  existing  States,  and  that  Congress 
ought  not  to  exercise  any  supervision  over  the  provisions  of 
the  constitution  of  any  such  State  further  than  is  necessary 
to  guarantee  to  every  State  in  this  Union  a  republican  form 
of  government.  That  the  proposed  constitution  of  the  State 
of  Utah  submitted  to  Congress  with  the  memorial  praying  for 
the  admission  of  the  Territory  of  Utah  into  the  Union  as  a 
State,  contains  provisions  which  would  deprive  such  pro- 
posed State,  if  admitted  into  the  Union,  of  that  equality  which 
should  exist  among  the  different  States.  Resolved,  further, 
that  it  is  the  sense  of  the  Senate  that  the  Territory  of  Utah 
ought  not  to  be  admitted  into  the  Union  as  a  State  until  it 
is  certain  beyond  doubt  that  the  practice  of  plural  marriage, 
bigamy,  or  polygamy  has  been  entirely  abandoned  by  the 
inhabitants  of  said  Territory,  and  until  it  is  likewise  certain 
that  the  civil  affairs  of  the  Territory  are  not  controlled  by  the 
priesthood  of  the  Mormon  church." 

191 


The  last  of  these  resolutions  expressed  the  general  senti- 
ment of  the  nation,  and  it  was  not  until  after  the  manifesto 
was  issued,  and  the  heads  of  the  Mormon  church  had  given 
a  pledge  that  polygamy  would  not  be  renewed  and  the  church 
would  not  in  the  future  control  the  civil  affairs  of  the  State, 
that  the  Territory  was  admitted  into  the  Union.  Without 
such  a  pledge,  statehood  could  not  have  been  obtained. 

From  the  following  incident,  I  have  not  the  least  doubt 
that  such  a  pledge  was  made  to  the  members  of  Congress, 
pending  the  Enabling  Act  under  which  Uta"h  was  admitted: 
There  was  an  act  of  Congress  which  prohibited  incorporated 
cities  of  the  territories  from  issuing  bonds  beyond  a  certain 
percentage  of  the  amount  of  taxes  annually  assessed.  Salt 
Lake  City  had  issued  bonds  up  to  the  limit,  and  as  it  was 
necessary  to  issue  more  bonds  in  order  to  complete  certain 
necessary  public  improvements  which  had  been  commenced, 
I,  as  mayor  of  that  city,  went  to  Washington  to  procure  a 
special  act  authorizing  the  issuance  of  a  million  dollars  of 
extra  bonds.  While  there  I  met,  in  the  lobby  of  the  Arlington 
hotel,  Geo.  Q.  Cannon,  who  was  one  of  the  counselors  of 
Wilford  Woodruff,  president  of  the  Mormon  church,  Bishop 
Clawson  and  Isaac  K.  Trumbo,  who  were  in  Washington  to 
aid  in  procuring  the  passage  of  the  Enabling  Act  which  was 
then  pending.  Mr.  Trumbo  asked  me  if  I  had  come  to  again 
oppose  the  admission  of  Utah.  Upon  replying  that  I  had  not, 
he  requested  me  to  aid  in  the  passage  of  that  act,  to  which 
I  replied,  "The  president  of  the  Mormon  church  has  the  power 
in  Utah  to  defeat  or  elect  any  party  ticket  or  candidate  for 
office  whenever  he  desires  to  do  so,  and  while  that  power 
exists,  I  cannot  favor  statehood  for  the  Territory."  Mr. 
Cannon  then  said  that  the  ruling  church  authorities  had  made  a 
solemn  pledge  that  the  church  would  take  no  part  in  political 
affairs,  and  that  polygamy  would  not  be  renewed.  I  replied, 
"While  I  have  no  doubt  that  both  you  and  President  Woodruff 
will  favor  keeping  that  pledge,  the  successor  of  President 
Woodruff  might  disregard  it ;  and  while  I  will  not  act  a  hypo- 
critical part  by  favoring  statehood,  I  will  not  take  any  active 
steps  in  opposition  to  the  passage  of  the  pending  Enabling 
Act,  as  most  of  the  influential  members  of  the  Liberal  party, 
to  which  I  belong,  favor  the  admission  of  the  Territory." 


192 


CHAPTER  XVII. 
A  Reference  to  the  Mormon  Battalion. 

The  masses  of  the  people  in  Utah  were  formerly  taught, 
and  yet  believe,  that  the  government  made  a  demand  on  the 
Mormons  for  a  battalion  of  five  hundred  men  to  participate 
in  the  war  with  Mexico,  and  that  the  demand  was  made  for  the 
purpose  of  oppressing  the  Mormons. 

In  September,  1857,  Brigham  Young,  in  an  address  de- 
livered in  Salt  Lake  City  and  found  in  Vol.  V,  Journal  of 
Discourses,  used  the  following  language : 

"There  cannot  be  a  more  damnable,  dastardly  order  than 
was  issued  by  the  Administration  to  this  people  while  they 
were  in  an  Indian  country  in  1846.  Before  we  left  Nauvoo, 
no  less  than  two  United  States  senators  came  to  receive  a 
pledge  from  us  that  we  would  leave  the  United  States,  and 
then  while  we  were  doing  our  best  to  leave  their  borders,  the 
poor,  low,  degraded  curses  sent  a  requisition  for  five  hundred 
of  our  men  to  go  and  fight  their  battles.  That  was  President 
Polk,  and  he  is  now  weltering  in  hell  with  old  Zachariah 
Taylor,  where  the  present  administrators  will  soon  be  if  they 
do  not  repent.  *  *  *  Liars  have  reported  that  this  people 
have  committed  treason,  and  upon  their  lies  the  President  has 
ordered  troops  to  aid  in  officering  this  Territory,  and  if  those 
officers  are  like  many  who  have  previously  been  sent  here, 
and  we  have  reason  to  believe  that  they  are,  or  they  would 
not  come  when  they  know  that  they  are  not  wanted ;  they  are 
poor,  miserable,  blacklegs,  broken-down  political  hacks,  rob- 
bers and  whore-mongers — men  that  are  not  for  civilized 
society,  so  they  dragoon  them  upon  us  for  officers.  I  feel  that 
I  won't  bear  such  cussed  treatment,  and  that  is  enough  to 
say,  for  we  are  just  as  free  as  the  mountain  air.  *  *  * 
There  is  high  treason  in  Washington,  and  if  the  law  was 
carried  out,  it  would  hang  up  many  of  them,  and  the  very 
act  of  James  K.  Polk,  in  having  five  hundred  of  our  men, 
while  we  were  making  our  way  out  of  the  country,  under  an 
agreement  forced  upon  us,  would  have  hung  him  between  the 
heavens  and  the  earth  if  the  laws  had  been  faithfully  carried 
out.  And  now,  if  they  can  send  a  force  against  this  people, 
we  have  every  constitutional  and  legal  right  to  send  them  to 
hell,  and  we  calculate  to  send  them  there.  *  *  *  Our 
enemies  had  better  count  the  cost,  for  if  they  continue  the 

193 


job  they  will  want  to  let  it  out  to  subcontractors  before  they 
get  half  through  with  it.  If  they  persist  in  sending  troops 
here,  I  want  the  people  of  the  West  and  the  East  to  under- 
stand that  it  will  not  be  safe  for  them  to  cross  the  plains." 

Wilford  Woodruff,  in  his  address  at  the  gathering  of  the 
pioneers  on  the  24th  of  July,  1880,  said : 

"Our  government  called  upon  us  to  raise  a  battalion  of 
five  hundred  men  to  go  to  Mexico  to  fight  the  battles  of 
our  country.  This  draft  was  ten  times  greater,  according  to 
the  population  of  the  Mormon  camp,  than  was  made  upon  any 
portion  of  our  nation.  Whether  our  government  expected 
we  would  comply  with  the  request  or  not  is  not  for  me  to  say. 
But  I  think  I  am  safe  in  saying  that  a  plan  was  laid  by  certain 
parties  for  our  destruction  if  we  did  not  comply." 

Both  Brigham  Young  and  Wilford  Woodruff  knew  that 
the  enlistment  of  the  Mormon  Battalion  was  requested  by 
Colonel  Little,  who  represented  the  Mormon  church,  and  that 
President  Polk  granted  the  request  for  the  purpose  of  assisting 
the  Mormons  on  their  journey  to  the  West,  and  not  to  oppress 
or  injure  them.  As  an  earnest  of  this  I  refer  to  the  evidence 
following:  Captain  Allen  was  sent  to  the  Mormon  camps 
for  the  purpose  of  enlisting  that  Battalion,  and  he  issued  the 
following  circular  to  the  Mormons,  which  explains  the  object 
of  that  enlistment : 

"I  have  come  among  you  instructed  by  Col.  S.  F.  Kearney 
of  the  U.  S.  Army,  now  commanding  the  Army  of  the  West, 
to  visit  the  Mormon  camp  and  accept  the  service  for  twelve 
months  of  four  or  five  companies  of  Mormon  men  who  may 
be  willing  to  serve  their  country  for  that  period  in  our  present 
war  with  Mexico;  this  force  to  unite  with  the  Army  of  the 
West  at  Santa  Fe,  and  be  marched  thence  to  California  where 
they  will  be  discharged.  They  will  receive  pay  and  rations, 
and  other  allowances  such  as  other  volunteers  or  regular 
soldiers  receive,  from  the  day  they  shall  be  mustered  into  the 
service,  and  will  be  entitled  to  all  comforts  and  benefits  of 
regular  soldiers  of  the  army,  and  when  discharged  as  con- 
templated at  California,  they  will  be  given,  gratis,  their  arms 
and  accoutrements  with  which  they  will  be  fully  equipped 
at  Fort  Leavenworth.  This  is  offered  to  the  Mormon  people 
now.  This  year  an  opportunity  of  sending  a  portion  of  their 
young  and  intelligent  men  to  the  ultimate  destination  of  their 
whole  people,  and  entirely  at  the  expense  of  the  United  States, 
and  this  advance  party  can  thus  pave  the  way  and  look  out 
land  for  their  brethren  who  come  after  them.  Those  of  the 
Mormons  who  are  desirous  of  serving  their  country  on  the 

194 


conditions  here  enumerated  are  requested  to  meet  me  without 
delay  at  their  principal  camp  at  Council  Bluffs,  where  I  am 
going  to  consult  with  their  principal  men,  and  to  receive  and 
organize  the  force  contemplated  to  be  raised.  I  will  receive 
all  healthy,  able-bodied  men  of  from  eighteen  to  forty-five 
years  of  age. 

"(Signed)  J.  ALLEN, 
"Capt.  First  Dragoons." 

The  following  is  a  quotation  from  an  article  published  in 
the  Deseret  News,  and  relates  to  an  address  delivered  by  B.  H. 
Roberts  on  the  4th  of  July,  1911 : 

"*  *  *  The  calling  of  the  Mormon  Battalion,  and  the 
fact  that  this  event  was  not  intended  by  the  general  govern- 
ment to  harm  the  Mormon  people,  but  that  it  was  for  their  wel- 
fare and  the  direct  results  of  a  request  by  the  church  leaders, 
was  forcibly  brought  out,  and  that  Col.  Jesse  C.  Little,  the 
eastern  representative  of  the  Mormon  church,  had  asked  Presi- 
dent Polk  to  assist  the  people  in  their  enforced  western  march, 
and  that  President  Brigham  Young  stated  that  it  was  what  he 
had  wanted,  was  shown  from  letters  and  journals  of  many  of 
the  early  church  leaders,  among  them  being  the  journal  of 
John  Taylor.  The  government  intended  to  help  the  people 
in  their  western  march,  and  the  Mormon  people  were  thus 
given  a  glorious  opportunity  to  prove  their  patriotism  to 
their  country. 

"The  journal  of  President  Taylor  states  that  President 
Young  said,  'We  are  pleased  to  show  our  patriotism  for  the 
country  we  expect  to  have  for  our  future  home.  I  think  Presi- 
dent Polk  has  done  us  a  great  favor  in  calling  us.' 

"Similar  facts  were  read  from  the  biography  of  President 
Wilford  Woodruff  and  others.  The  exodus  of  the  pioneers, 
and  their  arduous  journey  and  their  final  entrance  into  the 
valley  of  Salt  Lake  were  beautifully  pictured,  and  numerous 
interesting  events  connected  with  that  occasion  were  told." 

The  following  is  an  extract  from  the  testimony  given  in 
the  naturalization  case  hereinbefore  referred  to  by  Henry  W. 
Lawrence,  a  gentleman  of  the  highest  standing  and  whose 
veracity  is  beyond  question,  and  who  at  present  is  a  member 
of  the  governing  commission  of  Salt  Lake  City : 

"In  1847,  during  the  Mexican  war,  when  the  Mormons 
were  on  the  frontier,  all  in  their  camps,  going  out  to  Salt 
Lake — or  west  somewhere,  there  was  a  battalion  called  for 
from  the  Mormons  to  go  and  fight  the  battles  in  Mexico.  I 
always  supposed,  from  the  teachings  of  the  Mormon  leaders, 
that  it  was  a  requisition,  and  I  have  heard  over  and  over 

195 


the  government  handled  roughly — denounced  for  calling  upon 
the  Mormon  people  for  500  of  their  best  men,  to  cripple  them 
right  there  on  the  banks  of  the  Missouri,  in  the  most  trying 
time.  The  people  were  taught  that  the  government  had  called 
for  these  men  so  that  we  would  not  be  prepared  to  protect 
ourselves  against  even  the  Indians.  It  was  so  represented  by 
our  leaders.  I  used  often  to  think  that  that  was  a  most 
damnable  thing.  That  was  preached  in  sermons  by  Brigham 
Young,  by  George  A.  Smith  and  the  other  leading  men  of 
the  church,  time  and  time  again.  The  true  condition  of  the 
thing  was,  we  afterwards  found  out,  and  it  was  one  of  the 
things  that  turned  me  against  the  system,  that  it  was  on  the 
solicitation  of  the  agents  of  this  church  that  that  battalion 
was  asked  for.  Jesse  S.  Little  was  one  of  them.  The  govern- 
ment, out  of  kindness  to  the  people,  and  on  the  solicitations 
of  the  agents  of  this  church,  asked  for  that  battalion.  They 
paid  them  one  or  two  months'  wages  in  advance,  and  that 
money  was  used  to  help  buy  teams  and  assistance  for  the 
people,  and  helped  them  to  come  out  here  to  Salt  Lake.  In- 
stead of  the  truth  being  told,  they  were  told  that  it  was  done 
in  order  to  cripple  them  in  the  face  of  the  Indians.  This  was 
one  of  the  things  they  taught  the  people  to  prejudice  them 
against  the  government  of  the  United  States. 

"From  1862  to  1865  the  most  radical  talk  was  indulged 
in;  since  that  time  they  have  been  a  little  more  careful  in  their 
expressions.  This  talk  was  indulged  in,  not  only  by  Brigham 
Young,  H.  C.  Kimball,  Geo.  A.  Smith  and  the  twelve  apostles, 
but  by  other  leading  men  of  the  Mormon  church.  We  were 
told  that  the  government  had  allowed  us  to  be  driven  from 
our  homes,  deprived  of  our  property,  the  saints  to  be  murdered, 
the  prophets  to  be  murdered,  and  that  they  had  deprived  us 
of  all  our  rights  as  American  citizens,  and  that  by  that  means 
we  were  alienated  from  the  government.  Had  it  not  been  for 
the  teachings  that  were  given  to  them  by  the  leaders,  there 
is  no  reason  why  the  people  should  not  have  been  friendly  to 
the  government  of  the  United  States.  If  they  felt  that  they 
were  free  from  the  obligations  of  the  church,  they  would  be 
a  good,  loyal  people." 

The  following  extracts  are  from  prayers  which  were  made 
at  the  dedication  of  the  St.  George  temple  on  January  1,  1877, 
and  published  in  the  Deseret  News  of  January  13,  1877. 
Prayer  of  Wilford  Woodruff,  who  afterwards  issued  the 
manifesto : 

"And  we  pray  Thee  our  Father  in  Heaven,  in  the  name  of 
Jesus  Christ,  if  it  be  consistent  with  Thy  will,  that  Thy  servant 
Brigham  may  stand  in  the  flesh  to  behold  the  nation  which 
now  occupies  the  land  upon  which  Thou,  Lord,  hast  said  the 

196 


PORTER  ROCKWELL. 


Zion  of  God  shall  stand  in  the  latter  days;  that  nation  which 
shed  the  blood  of  the  saints  and  prophets  which  cry  unto 
God  day  and  night  for  vengeance ;  the  nation  which  is  making 
war  with  God  and  Christ;  that  nation  whose  sins,  wickedness 
and  abominations  are  ascending  up  before  God  and  the 
Heavenly  Host  which  causes  all  eternity  to  be  pained,  and 
the  Heavens  to  weep  like  falling  rain;  Yea,  O  Lord,  that  he 
may  live  to  see  that  nation,  if  it  will  not  repent,  broken  in 
pieces  like  a  potter's  vessel  and  swept  from  the  earth  with 
a  besom  of  destruction  as  were  the  Jaredites  and  Nephites, 
that  the  land  of  Zion  may  cease  to  groan  under  the  wickedness 
and  abomination  of  men." 

Prayer  of  Apostle  Lorenzo  Snow,  afterwards  president  of 
the  church : 

"We,  thy  servants  and  people,  stretch  forth  our  hands 
unto  Thee,  Father,  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  in  His  name 
we  beseech  Thee  to  hear  the  prayer  of  Thy  servant  Wilford 
Woodruff,  which  has  been  offered  up  in  the  first  room  of  this 
house,  and  answereth  it  for  this  house  and  people." 

From  prayer  of  Apostle  Brigham  Young,  Jr. : 

"Hear  and  answer  the  prayer  offered  up  by  Thy  apostles 

Wilford  Woodruff  and  Lorenzo  Snow,  that  they  may  penetrate 

the  ears  of  the  Lord  of  Sabaoth." 

The  foregoing  remarks  of  Brigham  Young  on  the  subject 
of  the  Mormon  Battalion  is  one  among  the  many  instances 
which  show  his  flagrant  duplicity ;  and  the  prayers  of  Wood- 
ruff, Snow  and  Brigham  Young,  Jr.,  are  among  the  many 
instances  which  show  the  animus  of  the  priesthood  against 
the  general  government,  and  are  of  the  same  general  character 
referred  to  by  Mr.  Lawrence  in  his  testimony. 

Whitney  has  studiously  avoided  mentioning  in  his  history 
such  occurrences  as  the  preceding  ones,  or  referring  to  any 
of  the  anomalous  sermons  from  which  I  have  made  quotations. 
In  the  light  of  what  I  have  shown  respecting  the  Mormon 
Battalion,  his  treatment  of  the  same  in  his  history  is  as  repre- 
hensible as  the  way  he  treats  the  subject  of  the  Mountain 
Meadows  massacre. 


197 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 
Securing  Free  Schools  for  Utah. 

Previous  to  the  passage  by  the  Legislature  of  the  Free  Pub- 
lic School  Law  of  1890,  there  were  no  free  schools  in  the  Terri- 
tory of  Utah.  The  prevalent  school  system  before  that  year  and 
the  school  houses  and  school  facilities  were  disgraceful.  The 
means  resorted  to  by  members  of  the  Liberal  party  to  procure  the 
passage  of  the  free  school  law  of  1890,  is  stated  in  the  following 
communication  of  Mr.  C.  E.  Allen : 

"Dec.  6th,  1911. 
"Hon.  R.  N.  Baskin,  City. 

"Dear  Sir :  In  response  to  your  request  for  a  statement  from 
me  regarding  public  school  legislation  in  the  legislature  of  which 
I  was  a  member,  I  submit  the  following: 

"The  so-called  Edmunds-Tucker  law  was  passed  by  the  Con- 
gress of  the  United  States  sometime  in  February  or  March,  1887. 
Under  this  law  the  affairs  pertaining  to  schools  were  taken  out 
of  the  hands  of  the  Territory  so  far  as  the  appointment  of  a  ter- 
ritorial superintendent  of  education  was  concerned,  and  this  ap- 
pointment was  vested  in  the  territorial  court  of  Utah,  as  I  recall 
it.  I  have  not  the  law  at  hand. 

"Also  by  this  law  the  districting  of  the  Territory  for  the  elec- 
tion of  members  of  the  territorial  legislature  was  placed  in  the 
hands  of  the  so-called  Utah  Commission. 

"In  the  summer  of  1887  the  Territory  was  redistricted,  and 
the  mining  districts  of  Tintic,  Bingham,  and  Stockton  and  Ophir, 
together  with  some  farming  districts,  were  made  a  legislative 
district. 

"I  was  nominated  for  the  lower,  house  of  the  legislature  by 
the  so-called  Liberal  party  of  this  legislative  district,  and  was 
elected  in  August,  1887. 

"In  the  fall  of  1887  certain  friends  of  mine  in  Salt  Lake. 
(I  was  then  living  in  Bingham  Canyon)  wrote  to  me  asking  if 
I  would  accept  the  appointment  of  territorial  superintendent  of 
schools.  I  answered  my  friends  that  I  did  not  think  I  could  give 
suitable  attention  to  these  matters  while  living  in  Bingham ;  that 
I  did  not  care  to  leave  my  work  there  and  come  to  the  city  to  de- 
vote myself  entirely  to  educational  matters,  and  that  I  thought  it 
best  to  appoint  someone  in  the  city  who  could  be  in  more  direct 
touch  with  the  teachers  and  other  persons  connected  with  school 
affairs. 

198 


"Mr.  Parley  L.  Williams,  a  prominent  attorney  of  this  city 
then  and  now,  was  appointed,  by  the  supreme  court,  territorial 
superintendent  of  schools. 

"Before  the  meeting  of  the  legislature,  which  occurred  about 
the  10th  of  January,  1888,  Mr.  Williams  drew  up  a  bill  which  did 
not  purport  to  change  materially  the  law  as  then  existing,  except 
that  the  schools  were  made  absolutely  free  under  its  provisions. 
This  bill  he  placed  in  the  hands  of  Judge  Enos  D.  Hoge,  who  also 
was  a  member  with  me  in  the  lower  house  of  the  legislature. 

"When  I  came  to  Salt  Lake  in  January  to  enter  upon  my 
duties  as  a  member  of  the  Twenty-eighth  session  of  the  Utah 
legislature,  Judge  Hoge  placed  this  bill  in  my  hands  and  asked  me 
to  look  after  it,  saying  that  I  would  be  better  able  to  handle  it 
since  I  had  had  considerable  experience  in  school  matters. 

"In  this  legislature,  of  which  W.  W.  Riter  of  Salt  Lake  was 
the  speaker,  I  was  appointed  a  member  of  the  committee  on  edu- 
cation. The  chairman  of  this  committee  was  Hon.  James  H. 
Moyle.  The  names  of  the  other  members  I  do  not  recall.  I  in- 
troduced the  bill  prepared  by  Mr.  Williams  and  it  was  sent  to  the 
committee  on  education  in  the  lower  house.  We  worked  over  it, 
as  I  recall  the  facts,  about  half  the  session,  and  finally  the  com- 
mittee was  induced  to  report  it  back  to  the  house  for  passage. 

"This  bill  was  defeated  in  the  house,  as  I  recall  the  vote,  by 
all  the  votes  of  the  house  except  five.  Three  of  these  were  elected 
by  the  so-called  Liberal  party  and  two  were  members  of  the  Peo- 
ple's party.  They  were  Philo  T.  Farnsworth,  now  residing  in 
Salt  Lake  City,  and  a  Mr.  Held,  as  I  recall  the  name,  who  was  a 
member  from  the  southern  part  of  Salt  Lake  county.  After  this 
bill  failed  in  the  house,  the  council  [senate]  took  up  educational 
matters.  There  a  bill  was  introduced.  This  bill  was  presented 
to  certain  members  of  the  council  by  Heber  J.  Grant,  now  and  then 
an  apostle  in  the  Mormon  church.  It  was  commonly  supposed  to 
be  the  result  of  the  wisdom  of  that  organization,  and  Heber  J. 
Grant  openly  fathered  it. 

"This  bill  proposed  not  to  make  the  schools  of  Utah  free,  but 
to  divert  the  school  moneys  to  any  church  organization  which  was 
carrying  on  schools  in  the  State  of  Utah  in  proportion  to  the  num- 
ber of  pupils  that  such  organization  had  in  such  schools.  If  this 
had  been  done  the  schools  instead  of  becoming  free  would  all  have 
been  under  the  domination  of  the  various  churches  of  the  Terri- 
tory. This  bill  was  vetoed  by  Governor  West. 

"In  the  summer  of  1889  I  was  again  a  candidate  for  election 
to  the  legislature  from  a  Salt  Lake  district,  having  moved  my 
residence  from  Bingham  Canyon  to  the  fifth  municipal  ward  of 
this  city.  I  was  re-elected  to  the  legislature  at  the  election  held  in 
August. 

"Between  the  time  of  my  re-election  and  the  assembling  of 
the  legislature  I  devoted  considerable  time  to  the  study  of  the 
school  laws  of  this  Territory,  the  States  of  Kansas  and  South 
Dakota  and  the  city  of  Buffalo.  The  laws  which  I  found  at  these 

199 


various  localities  seemed  to  afford  me  a  better  groundwork  for  the 
proposed  laws  for  Utah  than  any  other  that  I  could  find.  I  drafted 
two  bills;  one,  if  it  should  become  a  law,  to  apply  in  general  to 
the  Territory,  the  other  to  apply  to  cities. 

"Just  before  Congress  was  to  assemble  in  December  of  that 
year  I  called  a  meeting  of  four  gentlemen  besides  myself,  only 
two  of  whose  names  I  now  recall  and  those  two  were  the  only  ones 
who  attended  the  meeting.  Governor  Arthur  L.  Thomas  and 
Hon.  Parley  L.  Williams  and  myself  met  in  response  to  this  call  to 
consider  these  bills.  I  presented  to  them  the  bills  which  I  had 
drafted  and  told  them  of  the  difficulties  I  had  had  in  the  previous 
legislature,  and  said  that  I  desired  to  have  these  laws  passed 
either  in  Utah  or  in  Washington,  and  asked  Gov.  Thomas  to  take 
them  to  Washington  and  present  them  to  Senator  Edmunds  of 
Vermont  and  to  ask  him  to  introduce  them  in  the  Senate  of  the 
United  States  if  the  action  of  the  territorial  legislature  should 
indicate  that  there  was  doubt  concerning  their  passage  here.  Mr. 
Thomas  and  Mr.  Williams  both  agreed  with  this  plan,  and  Mr. 
Thomas  took  the  bills  and  gave  them  to  Senator  Edmunds  and 
requested  him  to  introduce  them  into  the  Senate  of  the  United 
States,  provided  there  seemed  to  be  a  disposition  here  not  to  do 
anything  in  this  matter. 

"In  the  territorial  Assembly  of  1890  there  were  six  Liberal 
members  in  the  lower  house.  We  had  a  meeting  to  decide  upon 
the  officers  that  we  would  present  for  election  in  the  lower  house 
and  also  to  decide  upon  what  positions  upon  committees  we  would 
ask  for.  I  gave  my  reasons  to  the  Liberal  members  and  they  unani- 
mously agreed  that  I  should  seek  a  position  on  the  committee  of 
education.  At  this  time  the  People's  party  in  the  legislature  was 
divided  into  two  factions ;  one  was  led  by  Hon.  Samuel  Thurman 
of  Provo  and  one  by  Charles  C.  Richards  of  Ogden.  These  fac- 
tions seemed  to  arise  through  the  desire  of  the  Ogden  faction  to 
prevent  suitable  appropriations  being  made  to  the  insane  asylum 
at  Provo.  I  had  shown  considerable  interest  in  the  affairs  of  the 
insane  asylum  in  the  legislature  of  1888,  and  had  become  quite 
friendly  with  Mr.  Samuel  Thurman  through  this.  At  the  opening 
of  the  legislature  in  1890,  I  went  to  Mr.  Thurman  and  told  him 
that  I  desired  to  be  chairman  of  the  committee  on  education. 
He  thought  it  was  considerable  for  the  minority  to  ask  for  a 
chairmanship  in  the  lower  house.  I  replied  that  we  had  six  solid 
votes  which  were  agreed  to  be  cast  in  any  way  that  I  should  desire 
in  order  to  further  what  we  believed  to  be  the  interests  of  good 
education  in  this  Territory ;  that  if  he  desired  these  votes  he  could 
have  them ;  if  he  did  not,  we  would  try  to  use  them  elsewhere. 
The  result  was  that  I  was  appointed  by  the  Hon.  James  Sharp, 
speaker  of  the  house,  chairman  of  the  committee  on  education. 

"The  two  bills  which  I  had  prepared  were  introduced  by  me 
as  Bills  No.  1  and  No.  2  of  the  session.  They  were  immediately 
referred,  of  course,  to  the  committee  on  education.  Within  a  short 
time  the  committee  on  education  had  considered  the  bills  and  they 

200 


had  been  reported  back  to  the  house  and  passed  by  the  house ;  one 
unanimously,  the  other  with  only  one  negative  vote. 

"Then  these  bills  went  to  the  council  and  appeared  to  have 
died.  Nothing  could  be  heard  of  them;  no  one  could  tell  when 
they  would  be  reported.  One  morning  an  item  appeared  in  the 
Salt  Lake  papers  saying  that,  the  day  before,  Senator  Edmunds 
had  introduced  into  the  Senate  of  the  United  States  a  bill  provid- 
ing for  free  education  in  the  Territory  of  Utah.  Senator  Ed- 
munds had  combined  the  two  bills  which  I  had  prepared  into  one 
and  presented  them  as  one  bill  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States. 

"When  I  entered  the  Assembly  hall  that  morning,  one  of  the 
members  belonging  to  the  majority  met  me  and  said:  'Mr.  Allen, 
what  is  the  meaning  of  the  introduction  of  a  bill  on  education  for 
the  Territory  of  Utah  by  Senator  Edmunds?'  I  replied:  'The 
bill  which  has  been  introduced  by  Senator  Edmunds  is  the  same  as 
the  two  bills  which  were  introduced  by  me  here,  which  have 
passed  this  house  and  which  have  been  held  up  in  the  council.  I 
spent  the  whole  session  two  years  ago  trying  to  get  something 
done  here  on  this  question.  Nothing  could  be  accomplished.  I 
do  not  propose  to  spend  this  whole  winter  here  without  results. 
If  your  party  does  not  care  to  pass  these  bills,  or  something  simi- 
lar to  them,  and  have  the  credit  for  doing  so,  you  can  take  the 
same  legislation  from  the  hands  of  the  United  States." 

"All  at  once  the  committee  on  education  in  the  council  be- 
came very  active.  My  two  bills  were  combined  into  one,  essen- 
tially without  change,  and  named  the  Collett  bill,  from  Mr.  Col- 
lett,  who  was  chairman  of  the  committee  on  education  in  the  coun- 
cil, as  I  recall  the  facts,  and  the  so-called  Collett  bill  was  passed 
by  the  council.  This  bill  came  down  to  the  house.  Some  minor 
changes  had  been  made  in  the  original  bills  and  several  amend- 
ments which  seemed  to  me  to  detract  from  the  efficiency  of  the 
bill  had  been  inserted,  but  the  original  bills  with  these  exceptions 
were  practically  unchanged.  The  bill  as  sent  down  to  the  house 
from  the  council  was  passed  by  the  house  after  certain  amend- 
ments thereto  had  been  made. 

"The  bill  as  passed  was  put  into  operation  throughout  the 
Territory  during  the  year  1890,  and  with  the  changes  which  time 
has  suggested,  which  changes  have  particularly  been  made  with 
reference  to  the  schools  of  cities,  the  law  then  put  upon  the  statute 
books  has  been  in  force  up  to  the  present  time. 

"The  above  are  the  main  facts  concerning  the  passage  of 
the  free  school  laws  in  1890.  The  minor  details,  of  course,  I  do 
not  readily  recall. 

"I  hope  they  may  be  of  use  to  you  and  you  may  feel  free  to 
use  them  in  whatever  way  you  choose.  Very  truly, 

"C  E.  ALLEN." 

Governor  West,  in  his  message  vetoing  the  school  act  passed 
by  the  legislature  in  1888,  referred  to  in  the  letter  of  Mr.  Allen, 
said: 

201 


"There  are  many  grounds  of  objection  to  the  enactment  of 
such  a  law,  which  it  is  unnecessary  to  enumerate,  as  there  is  one 
which  is  insufferable — that  is,  the  provision  that  private  or  de- 
nominational schools  shall  share  in  the  public  school  fund. 

"I  can  no  more  give  my  assent  to  such  a  provision  than  ap- 
prove an  appropriation  from  the  public  treasury  for  the  benefit 
of  any  other  private  interest  or  individual.  I  regard  such  a  pro- 
vision as  a  blow  at  the  public  school  system  which  prevails  in  every 
other  section  of  our  country. 

"Under  the  proposed  law,  denominational  schools  may  have 
the  aid  of  the  civil  power  by  means  of  taxation  to  advance  the 
tenets  of  the  church.  It  seems  a  surprising  fact  that  such  a  sys- 
tem should  be  proposed  at  this  time.  None  of  the  reasons  which 
can  be  urged  in  support  of  the  general  education  of  the  youths  of 
the  Territory  at  the  public  expense  can,  in  my  judgment,  justify 
such  legislation." 

Governor  Thomas,  in  one  of  his  messages  to  the  legislature 
on  the  subject  of  free  public  schools,  said : 

"I  can  present  no  subject  for  your  consideration  of  greater 
importance  than  the  condition  of  public  schools  throughout  the 
Territory.  It  is  the  bounden  duty  of  the  Territory  to  give  to  every 
child  the  opportunity  of  receiving  a  free  public  education.  This 
is  denied  by  existing  school  laws.  I  earnestly  recommend  that 
you  enact  such  legislation  as  will  lay  the  foundation  of  a  system  of 
education  that  will  progress  until  the  highest  standard  is  reached. 
You  will  serve  your  Territory  well  by  so  doing." 

In  1892  the  committee  on  education  of  the  upper  house  of  the 
territorial  legislature  of  which  Mr.  John  D.  Peters,  a  Liberal  Mor- 
mon was  chairman  and  I  was  a  member,  reported  a  free  public 
school  bill  and  recommended  its  passage.  This  bill  retained  all 
the  vital  provisions  of  the  act  of  1890,  and  strengthened  it  by  ad- 
ditional requirements.  The  bill  so  reported  was  enacted  and  ap- 
proved by  the  governor.  Other  provisions  were  afterwards  ad- 
ded until  now  Utah's  free  school  system  is  such  as  any  civilized 
community  might  well  be  proud  of,  and  is  the  boast  of  the  gener- 
ality of  the  inhabitants  of  this  State. 

The  foundation  of  that  efficient  system  was  laid  by  the  Act 
of  1890,  which  having  been  originated  and  drafted  by  Mr.  Allen 
and  its  passage  procured  by  his  sagacity,  he  is  entitled  to  the 
gratitude  of  the  people  of  this  State,  and  especially  to  the  gratitude 
of  the  rising  generation,  for  that  act  contained  a  section  which 
made  the  education  of  the  children  of  the  Territory  compulsory 
and  also  provided  adequate  methods  for  its  enforcement.  He  is 
also  justly  entitled  to  the  appellation,  the  "Father  of  Utah's  Free 

202 


Schools."  The  Act  of  1890  also  authorized  the  boards  of  educa- 
tion of  the  respective  cities  to  submit  the  question  of  issuing  bonds 
for  school  purposes  to  the  qualified  electors. 

In  1890  the  board  of  education  of  Salt  Lake  City  submitted 
to  the  electors  of  that  city  the  question  of  issuing  bonds  to  the 
amount  of  eight  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  purchasing  sites  and  erecting  thereon  school  houses.  The 
Liberal  party  at  that  time  had  a  decided  majority  of  electors  in 
the  city  and  as  it  was  the  policy  of  that  party  to  improve  the  in- 
adequate school  facilities  then  existing,  the  electors  of  that  party 
generally  recognized  the  pressing  necessity  of  substituting  modern 
and  commodious  school  houses  in  place  of  the  miserable  buildings 
in  which  the  schools  at  that  time  were  being  held,  and  voted  in 
favor  of  said  bonds ;  consequently  their  issuance  was  authorized 
by  a  decisive  majority  of  the  votes  cast.  The  board  of  education 
which  submitted  the  issuance  of  said  bonds  to  the  vote  of  the  elec- 
tors was  composed  of  six  members  of  the  Liberal  party  and  four 
of  the  People's  party,  the  latter  being  the  name  given  to  the  Mor- 
mon church  party. 

Col.  William  Nelson,  who  was  formerly  United  States  mar- 
shal of  the  Territory,  and  acted  in  that  capacity  at  the  execution  of 
John  D.  Lee  on  the  scene  of  the  Mountain  Meadows  massacre, 
and  for  years,  until  his  death  in  November,  1913,  the  editor  of  the 
Salt  Lake  Tribune,  was  elected  by  the  Liberal  party  a  member  of 
that  board  and  afterwards  was  chosen  by  the  board  as  its  presi- 
dent. He  held  that  position  for  several  years  and  was  most  ac- 
tive, persistent  and  efficient  in  promoting  the  interests  of  the  pub- 
lic schools  of  the  city.  During  his  incumbency  thirteen  modern 
school  houses  were,  in  pursuance  of  the  policy  of  the  Liberal 
party,  erected  in  the  city.  Their  perfect  adaptation  for  school 
purposes  and  their  superior  appointments  are  not  surpassed  any- 
where, and  they  are  justly  the  pride  of  the  city. 

Until  after  the  passage  of  the  Edmunds-Tucker  Act  in  1887, 
no  Gentiles  were  ever  elected  to  the  territorial  legislature.  From 
the  organization  of  the  Territory  in  1850  until  1890,  a  period  of 
forty  years,  no  free  school  law  was  enacted  by  the  legislature  and 
even  at  that  late  date  it  was  impelled  to  act,  as  shown  by  the  letter 
previously  referred  to,  by  the  assurance  that  failure  to  pass  the 
free  school  bills  introduced  by  Mr.  Allen  would  impel  action  by 
Congress. 

203 


CHAPTER  XIX. 
The  Mormon  Business  System. 

If  there  ever  was  any  spirituality  in  the  Mormon  church,  it 
was  destroyed  under  the  leadership  of  Brigham  Young,  who  made 
of  the  church  a  money-making  institution.  Under  the  monetary 
system  established  by  him,  if  the  church  increases  in  membership 
at  the  same  ratio  as  it  has  heretofore  done  it  will  in  time  acquire 
inordinate  wealth,  the  possession  of  which  will  vest  it  with  tem- 
poral power  in  the  State.  This  a  church  should  not  possess,  espec- 
ially one  which  engages,  generally,  in  monetary  business  affairs, 
and  the  capital  of  which  is  largely  increased  each  year  by  tithing, 
and  under  a  tenet  of  which  its  adherents,  by  oath-bound  covenants, 
are  pledged  to  obey  its  priesthood  in  temporal  affairs.  It  is  so 
manifestly  against  public  policy  for  a  corporation,  especially  a 
church  corporation,  to  engage  in  general  business,  that  the  right 
to  do  so  should  never  be  granted  or  the  practice  tolerated  any- 
where. 

Joseph  F.  Smith  was  chosen  President  of  the  Mormon  church 
on  November  10,  1901.  At  that  date  he  was  not  a  capitalist,  yet 
in  the  investigation  in  the  Smoot  case  before  the  Senate  Commit- 
tee in  March,  1904,  he  testified  that  he  was  President  of  the  State 
Bank  of  Utah,  Consolidated  Wagon  and  Machinery  Company, 
Salt  Lake  &  Los  Angeles  Railway  Company,  Saltair  Beach  Com- 
pany (a  bathing  resort)  ;  president  and  director  of  the  Utah  Light 
and  Power  Company,  Idaho  Sugar  Company,  Inland  Crystal  Salt 
Company,  Salt  Lake  Dramatic  Association  and  Salt  Lake  Knitting 
Company,  also  a  director  of  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad  Company, 
Zion's  Cooperative  Mercantile  Institution  (which  is  the  largest 
one  in  Salt  Lake  City),  and  the  Deseret  News,  owned  by  the 
Mormon  church,  and  also  vice  president  of  the  Bullion  Beck  and 
Champion  Mining  Company.  (See  printed  report  of  the  Smoot 
case,  Vol.  I,  et  seq.) 

The  Mormon  church  is  largely  interested  in  most,  if  not  all, 
of  these  companies ;  also  in  the  new  Utah  Hotel,  the  sugar  plants 
in  Utah,  and  many  other  business  enterprises,  and  its  investments 
therein  were  made  by  the  various  presidents  of  the  church  as 
"trustees  in  trust." 

204 


The  practical  working  of  the  Mormon  church's  financial  sys- 
tem is  forcibly  stated  in  the  speech  of  Senator  Thomas  Kearns  of 
Utah  in  the  Smoot  case,  reported  in  the  Congressional  Record  of 
February  28,  1905,  in  which  he  said: 

"Whatever  may  have  been  its  origin  or  excuse,  the  business 
power  of  the  president  of  the  church  and  of  the  select  class  which 
he  admits  into  business  relations  with  him  is  now  a  practical 
monopoly,  or  is  rapidly  becoming  a  monopoly,  of  everything  that 
he  touches.  I  want  to  call  your  attention  to  the  extraordinary 
list  of  worldly  concerns  in  which  this  spiritual  leader  holds  official 
positions.  The  situation  is  more  amazing  when  you  are  advised 
that  this  man  came  to  his  presidency  purely  by  accident,  namely, 
the  death  of  his  seniors  in  rank;  that  he  had  never  shown  any 
business  ability,  and  that  he  comes  to  the  presidency  and  the  direc- 
torship of  the  various  corporations  solely  because  he  is  president 
of  the  church.  He  is  already  reputed  to  be  a  wealthy  man,  and 
his  statements  would  seem  to  indicate  that  he  has  large  holdings 
in  the  various  corporations  with  which  he  is  associated,  although 
previous  to  his  accession  to  the  presidency  of  the  church  he  made 
a  kind  of  proud  boast  among  his  people  of  his  poverty. 

"He  conducts  railways,  street-car  lines,  power  and  light  com- 
panies, coal  mines,  salt  works,  sugar  factories,  shoe  factories,  mer- 
cantile houses,  drug  stores,  newspapers,  magazines,  theatres,  and 
almost  every  conceivable  kind  of  business,  and  in  all  of  these,  inas- 
much as  he  is  the  dominant  factor  by  virtue  of  his  being  the 
Prophet  of  God,  he  asserts  indisputable  sway.  It  is  considered  an 
evidence  of  deference  to  him,  and  good  standing  in  the  church,  for 
his  hundreds  of  thousands  of  followers  to  patronize  exclusively 
the  institutions  which  he  controls. 

"And  this  fact  alone,  without  any  business  ability  on  his  part, 
but  with  capable  subordinate  guidance  for  his  enterprises,  insures 
their  success — and  danger  and  possible  ruin  for  every  competitive 
enterprise.  Independent  of  the  business  concerns,  he  is  in  receipt 
of  an  income  like  unto  that  which  a  royal  family  derives  from  a 
national  treasury.  One-tenth  of  all  the  annual  earnings  of  all  the 
Mormons  in  the  world  flows  to  him.  These  funds  amount  to  the 
sum  of  $1,600,000  annually,  or  five  per  cent  upon  $32,000,000, 
which  is  one-quarter  of  the  entire  taxable  wealth  of  the  State  of 
Utah.  It  is  the  same  as  if  he  owned  individually,  in  addition  to 
all  his  visible  enterprises,  one  quarter  of  all  the  wealth  of  the  State 
and  derived  from  it  five  per  cent  of  income  without  taxation  and 
without  discount.  The  hopelessness  of  contending  in  a  business 
way  with  this  autocrat  must  be  perfectly  apparent  to  your  minds. 
The  original  purpose  of  this  vast  tithe,  as  often  stated  by  speakers 
for  the  church,  was  the  maintenance  of  the  poor,  the  building  of 
meeting  houses,  etc.  Today  the  tithes  are  transmuted  in  the  locali- 
ties where  they  are  paid,  into  cash,  and  they  flow  into  the  treasury 
of  the  head  of  the  church.  No  account  is  made,  or  ever  has  been 

205 


made  of  these  tithes.  The  president  expends  them  according  to 
his  own  will  and  pleasure,  and  with  no  examination  of  his  accounts 
except  by  those  few  men  whom  he  selects  for  that  purpose  and 
whom  he  rewards  for  their  zeal  and  secrecy.  Shortly  after  the  set- 
tlement of  the  Mormon  church  property  question  with  the  United 
States,  the  church  issued  a  series  of  bonds  amounting  approxi- 
mately to  $1,000,000,  which  was  taken  by  financial  institutions. 
This  was  probably  to  wipe  out  a  debt  which  had  accumulated  dur- 
ing a  long  period  of  controversy  with  the  nation.  But  since,  and 
including  the  year  1897,  which  was  about  the  time  of  the  issue  of 
the  bonds,  approximately  $9,000,000  have  been  paid  in  as  tithes.  If 
any  of  the  bonds  are  still  outstanding  it  is  manifestly  because  the 
president  of  the  church  desires  for  reasons  of  his  own  to  have  an 
existing  indebtedness. 

"It  will  astound  you  to  know  that  every  dollar  of  United 
States  money  paid  to  any  servant  of  the  government  who  is  a 
Mormon  is  tithed  for  the  benefit  of  this  monarch.  Out  of  every 
$1,000  thus  paid  he  gets  $100  to  swell  his  grandeur.  This  is  also 
true  of  money  paid  out  of  the  public  treasury  of  the  State  of 
Utah  to  Mormon  officials.  But  what  is  worst  of  all,  the  monarch 
dips  into  the  sacred  school  fund  and  extracts  from  every  Mormon 
teacher  one-tenth  of  his  or  her  earnings  and  uses  it  for  his  un- 
accounted purposes;  and  by  means  of  these  purposes  and  the 
power  which  they  constitute,  he  defies  the  laws  of  his  State,  the 
sentiment  of  his  country,  and  is  waging  a  war  of  nullification 
on  the  public  school  system,  so  dear  to  the  American  people.  No 
right-thinking  man  will  oppose  any  person  as  a  servant  of  the  na- 
tion or  the  State,  or  as  a  teacher  in  the  public  schools  on  account 
of  religious  faith.  As  I  have  before  remarked,  this  is  no  war 
upon  the  religion  of  the  Mormons ;  and  I  am  only  calling  attention 
to  the  monstrous  manner  in  which  this  monarch  invades  all  the 
provinces  or  human  life  and  endeavors  to  secure  his  rapacious 
ends. 

"In  all  this  there  is  no  thought  on  my  part  of  opposition  to 
voluntary  gifts  by  individuals  for  religious  purposes  or  matters 
connected  legitimately  with  religion.  My  comment  and  criticism 
are  against  a  tyranny  which  misuses  a  sacred  name  to  extract  from 
individuals  the  money  which  they  ought  not  to  spare  from  family 
needs,  and  which  they  do  not  wish  to  spare  ;  my  comment  and  criti- 
cism relate  to  the  power  of  a  monarch  whose  tyranny  is  so  effec- 
tive as  that  not  even  the  moneys  paid  by  the  government  are  con- 
sidered the  property  of  the  government's  servants  until  after  this 
monarch  shall  have  seized  his  arbitrary  tribute,  with  or  without 
the  willing  assent  of  the  victim,  so  that  the  monarch  may  engage 
the  more  extensively  in  commercial  affairs,  which  are  not  a  part 
of  either  religion  or  charity. 

"With  an  income  of  five  per  cent  upon  one-quarter  of  the 
entire  assessed  valuation  of  the  State  of  Utah  today,  how  long 
will  it  take  this  monarch,  with  his  constantly  increasing  demands 

206 


for  revenue,  to  so  absorb  the  productive  power  that  he  will  be  re- 
ceiving an  income  of  five  per  cent  upon  one-half  of  the  property, 
and  then  upon  all  of  the  property  of  the  State?  This  is  worse 
than  the  farming  of  taxes  under  the  old  French  kings.  Will  Con- 
gress allow  this  awful  calamity  to  continue? 

"The  view  which  the  people  of  the  United  States  entertained 
on  this  subject  forty  years  ago  was  shown  by  the  act  of  Con- 
gress in  1862,  in  which  a  provision,  directed  particularly  against 
the  Mormon  church,  declared  that  no  church  in  a  Territory  of  the 
United  States  should  have  in  excess  of  $50,000  of  wealth,  outside 
of  the  property  used  for  purposes  of  worship.  It  is  evident  that 
as  early  as  that  time  the  pernicious  effects  of  a  system  which  used 
the  name  of  God  and  the  authority  of  religion  to  dominate  in 
commerce  and  finance  were  fully  recognized. 

"This  immense  tithing  fund  is  gathered  directly  from  Mor- 
mons, but  the  burden  falls  in  some  degree  upon  Gentiles  also. 
Gentiles  are  in  business  and  suffer  by  competition  with  tithe-sup- 
ported business  enterprises.  Gentiles  are  large  employers  of  Mor- 
mon labor,  and  as  that  labor  must  pay  one-tenth  of  its  earnings 
to  support  competitive  concerns  the  Gentile  employer  must  pay,  in- 
directly at  least,  the  tithe  which  may  be  utilized  to  compete,  and 
even  ruin  him  in  business. 

"And  in  return  it  should  be  noted  that  Mormon  institu- 
tions do  not  employ  Gentiles,  except  in  rare  cases  of  necessity. 
The  reason  is  obvious :  Gentiles  do  not  take  as  kindly  to  the 
tithing  system  as  do  the  Mormons. 

"The  Mormon  citizen  of  Utah  has  additional  disadvan- 
tages. After  paying  one-tenth  of  all  his  earnings  as  a  tithe 
offering,  he  is  called  upon  to  erect  and  maintain  the  meeting 
houses  and  other  edifices  of  the  church ;  he  is  called  upon  to 
donate  to  the  poor  fund  of  his  ward,  through  his  local  bishop ; 
he  is  called  upon  to  sustain  the  women's  relief  society,  whose 
purpose  is  to  care  for  the  poor  and  minister  to  the  sick;  he  is 
called  upon  to  pay  his  share  of  the  expenses  for  the  2,500  mis- 
sionaries of  the  church,  who  are  constantly  kept  in  the  field 
without  drawing  upon  the  general  funds  of  the  church.  When 
all  this  is  done,  it  is  found  that,  in  defiance  of  the  old  and 
deserved  boast  of  the  predecessors  of  the  present  president, 
there  are  some  Mormons  in  the  poorhouses  in  Utah,  and 
these  are  sustained  by  the  public  taxes  derived  from  the  Gen- 
tiles and  Mormons  alike. 

"Mr.  President,  I  must  not  burden  you  with  too  many  de- 
tails, but  in  order  for  you  to  see  how  complete  is  the  business 
power  of  this  man,  I  will  cite  you  to  one  case.  The  Great 
Salt  Lake  is  estimated  to  contain  14,000,000,000  tons  of  salt. 
Probably  salt  can  be  made  cheaper  on  the  shores  of  this  lake 
than  anywhere  else  in  the  world.  Nearly  all  its  shore  line  is 

207 


adaptable  for  salt  gardens.  The  president  of  the  church  is 
interested  in  a  large  salt  monopoly  which  has  gathered  in 
the  various  smaller  enterprises.  He  is  president  of  a  railroad 
which  runs  from  the  salt  gardens  to  Salt  Lake  City,  connect- 
ing there  with  trunk  lines.  It  costs  to  manufacture  the  salt, 
and  place  it  on  board  the  cars,  75  cts.  per  ton.  He  receives 
for  it  $5  and  $6  per  ton.  His  company  and  its  subsidiary  cor- 
poration are  probably  capitalized  at  three-quarters  of  a  mil- 
lion dollars. 

"Is  there  menace  in  this  system?  To  me  it  seems  like  a 
"rent  Ha^o-er  to  all  the  people  who  are  now  affected,  and  there- 
fore of  great  danger  to  the  people  of  the  United  States,  because 
the  power  of  this  monarchy  within  the  Republic  is  constantly 
extending?  If  it  be  an  evil,  every  apostle  is  in  part  responsible 
for  this  tvrannical  course.  He  helped  to  elect  the  president : 
he  does  the  president's  bidding  and  shares  in  the  advantages 
of  that  tvranny. 

"I  did  not  call  the  social  system  a  violation  of  the  pledges 
to  the  country,  but  I  do  affirm  that  the  business  tyranny  of 
Mormon  leaders  is  an  express  violation  of  the  covenant  made, 
for  they  do  not  leave  their  followers  free  in  secular  affairs. 
They  tyrannize  over  them,  and  their  tyranny  spreads  even  to 
the  Gentiles.  In  all  this  I  charge  that  every  apostle  is  a  party 
to  the  wrong  and  to  the  violation.  Although  I  speak  of  the 
president  of  the  church  as  the  leader — the  monarch  in  fact — 
every  apostle  is  one  of  his  ministers,  one  of  his  creators,  and 
also  one  of  his  creatures,  and  possibly  his  successor;  and  the 
whole  system  depends  upon  the  manner  in  which  the  apostles 
and  the  other  leaders  shall  support  the  chief  leader.  As  no 
apostle  has  ever  protested  against  this  system,  but  has,  by 
every  means  in  his  power,  encouraged  it,  he  cannot  escape  his 
share  of  the  responsibility  for  it.  It  is  an  evil ;  they  aid  it.  It 
is  in  violation  of  the  pledge  upon  which  statehood  was  granted ; 
they  profit  by  it." 

Upon  the  admission  of  Utah  as  a  State,  the  Congress  of 
the  United  States  lost  its  authority  to  correct  the  indefensible 
practice  of  the  church  in  engaging  in  general  business  affairs, 
and  this  can  only  be  done  now  by  an  enactment  of  the  legis- 
lature of  the  State;  that  it  possesses  authority  to  prohibit  a 
practice  so  manifestly  against  public  policy  as  that  in  which 
the  church,  as  I  have  shown  engages,  is  clear.  There  is  no 
hope  however  that  a  legislature  can  ever  be  elected  in  Utah 
which  will  do  so,  as  long  as  the  priesthood  retains  the  political 
and  financial  power  and  influence  which  it  now  possesses. 


208 


CHAPTER  XX. 
C.  S.  Varian's  Statement. 

Hon.  Robert  M.  Baskin,  Salt  Lake  City,  Utah: 

My  Dear  Sir:  Pursuant  to  your  request  for  a  statement 
from  me,  reviewing  in  part  the  erroneous  and  misleading 
accounts  by  Mr.  Orson  F.  Whitney  in  his  "History  of  Utah," 
of  the  proceedings  and  prosecutions  under  the  act  of  Congress 
of  March  22,  1882,  while  I  was  assistant  United  States  attor- 
ney, during  the  incumbency  of  that  office  by  my  partner, 
William  H.  Dickson,  I  submit  the  following: 

In  order  to  have  a  clear  understanding  of  the  matter  in 
hand  it  will  be  necessary  to  first  ascertain  the  questions  at 
issue  between  the  government  of  the  United  States  and  the 
Mormon  people  at  the  time  when  prosecutions  were  begun 
to  enforce  the  laws  in  Utah. 

By  the  act  of  Congress  approved  July  8,  1862,  polygamy 
was  prohibited  in  the  territories  of  the  United  States,  and 
penalties  prescribed  for  a  violation  of  the  law,  and  by  the 
same  act  it  was  made  unlawful  for  any  corporation  or  associa- 
tion, for  religious  or  charitable  purposes,  to  acquire  or  hold 
real  estate  in  the  territories  of  greater  value  than  $50,000,  and 
providing  for  a  forfeiture  and  escheat  of  all  such  property 
held  in  violation  of  the  law,  saving  existing  vested  rights. 

By  the  act  of  Congress  of  March  22,  1882,  generally 
known  as  the  "Edmunds  law,"  bigamy  and  unlawful  cohabita- 
tion were  defined  as  offenses  against  the  United  States  in 
the  territories,  and  it  was  provided  that  it  should  be  sufficient 
cause  of  challenge  to  any  person  drawn  or  summoned  as  a 
juryman  or  talesman,  first,  that  he  is  or  has  been  living  in 
the  practice  of  bigamy,  polygamy,  or  unlawful  cohabitation 
with  more  than  one  woman ;  or  second,  that  he  believes  it  right 
for  a  man  to  have  more  than  one  living  and  undivorced  wife 
at  the  same  time,  or  to  live  in  the  practice  of  cohabiting 
with  more  than  one  woman ;  that  any  person  appearing  as 
a  juror  or  talesman  may  be  challenged  on  either  of  the  said 
grounds,  or  may  be  questioned  on  his  oath  as  to  the  existence 

209 


of  such  cause,  and  that  other  evidence  may  be  introduced  bear- 
ing upon  the  question  which  was  to  be  tried  by  the  court; 
but  it  was  also  provided  that  as  to  the  first  ground  of  chal- 
lenge the  person  challenged  should  not  be  bound  to  answer 
if  he  should  say  under  oath  that  his  answer  might  tend  to 
criminate  him,  and  he  declined  on  that  ground;  that  if  he  did 
answer,  his  answer  should  not  be  given  in  evidence  in  any 
criminal  prosecution  against  him  for  any  such  offense,  but 
if  he  declined  to  answer,  he  should  be  rejected  as  incompetent. 

By  act  of  Congress  approved  March  3,  1887,  known  as  the 
"Edmunds-Tucker  law,"  it  was  provided  that  in  any  prosecu- 
tion for  bigamy,  polygamy,  or  unlawful  cohabitation,  under 
any  statute  of  the  United  States  "the  lawful  husband  or  wife 
of  the  person  accused  shall  be  a  competent  witness,  and  may 
be  called,  but  shall  not  be  compelled  to  testify  in  such  pro- 
ceeding, examination,  or  prosecution  without  the  consent  of 
the  husband  or  wife,  as  the  case  may  be ;  and  such  witness  shall 
not  be  permitted  to  testify  to  any  statement  or  communication 
made  by  either  husband  or  wife  to  each  other,  during  the 
existence  of  the  marriage  relation,  deemed  confidential  at 
common  law." 

It  also  provided  that  in  such  prosecution  an  attachment 
might  issue  for  any  witness  without  previous  subpoena,  com- 
pelling his  or  her  immediate  attendance  upon  certain  pre- 
scribed procedure,  with  the  further  provision  that  such  person 
might  be  released  upon  .bond,  etc.  It  also  provided  that 
"every  ceremony  of  marriage,  or  in  the  nature  of  a  marriage 
ceremony,  of  any  kind,  in  any  of  the  territories  of  the  United 
States,  whether  either  or  both  or  more  of  the  parties  to  such 
ceremony  be  lawfully  competent  to  be  the  subjects  of  such 
marriage  or  ceremony  or  not,  shall  be  certified  by  a  certificate 
stating  the  fact  and  nature  of  such  ceremony,  the  full  names 
of  each  of  the  parties  concerned,  and  the  full  name  of  every 
officer,  priest  and  person  taking  part  in  the  performance  of 
such  ceremony,  which  certificate  shall  be  drawn  up  and  signed 
by  the  parties,  and  by  every  officer,  priest  and  person  taking 
part  in  such  ceremony,  and  filed  in  the  office  of  the  probate 
court,"  etc. 

The  certificate  or  the  record  thereof  was  made  prima 
facie  evidence  of  the  facts  required  to  be  stated  therein,  and 
penalties  were  imposed  for  violation  of  the  law. 

210 


From  the  beginning,  and  from  the  time  of  the  several 
enactments  aforesaid,  the  members  of  the  Mormon  church 
had  contemptuously  ignored  and  refused  to  obey  the  fore- 
going provisions  of  law  in  the  territories  occupied  in  whole 
or  in  part  by  the  Mormon  people.  This  fact  was  so  well  under- 
stood and  acknowledged  in  the  United  States  that  nation- 
wide calls  for  obedience  to  the  law  were  made  at  least  twice 
in  the  platforms  of  national  conventions  of  two  of  the  great 
political  parties. 

The  attitude  of  the  Mormon  church  towards  the  govern- 
ment during  the  times  here  referred  to  is  well  expressed  by 
Mr.  Justice  Bradley  in  delivering  the  solemn  judgment  of  the 
supreme  court  of  the  United  States  in  the  case  of  the  Mormon 
church  against  the  United  States,  as  follows : 

"But  it  is  also  stated  in  the  findings  of  fact,  and  is  a  mat- 
ter of  public  notoriety,  that  the  religious  and  charitable  uses 
intended  to  be  subserved  and  promoted  are  the  inculcation 
and  spread  of  the  doctrines  and  usages  of  the  Mormon  church, 
or  Church  of  Latter-day  Saints,  one  of  the  distinguishing 
features  of  which  is  the  practice  of  polygamy,  a  crime  against 
the  laws,  and  abhorrent  to  the  sentiments  and  feelings  of 
the  civilized  world.  Notwithstanding  the  stringent  laws  which 
have  been  passed  by  Congress,  notwithstanding  all  the  efforts 
made  to  suppress  this  barbarous  practice,  the  sect  or  com- 
munity composing  the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ  of  Latter-day 
Saints  perseveres,  in  defiance  of  law,  in  preaching,  upholding 
and  defending  it.  It  is  a  matter  of  public  notoriety  that  its 
emissaries  are  engaged  in  many  countries  in  propagating  this 
nefarious  doctrine,  and  urging  its  converts  to  join  the  com- 
munity in  Utah.  The  existence  of  such  a  propaganda  is  a 
blot  on  our  civilization.  *  *  *  It  is  unnecessary  here  to 
refer  to  the  past  history  of  the  sect,  to  their  defiance  of  the 
government  authorities,  to  their  attempt  to  establish  an  in- 
dependent community,  to  their  efforts  to  drive  from  the  terri- 
tory all  who  were  not  connected  with  them  in  communion  and 
sympathy.  The  tale  is  one  of  patience  on  the  part  of  the 
American  government  and  people,  and  of  contempt  of  author- 
ity and  resistance  to  the  law  on  the  part  of  the  Mormons. 
Whatever  persecutions  they  may  have  suffered  in  the  early 
part  of  their  history  in  Missouri  and  Illinois,  they  have  no 
excuse  for  their  persistent  defiance  of  law  under  the  govern- 
ment of  the  United  States."  (136  U.  S.  48-49.) 

There  being  no  public  record  made  of  marriages  solem- 
nized in  the  temples,  and,  of  course,  none  of  polygamous  mar- 
riages, the  difficulty  of  ascertaining  and  punishing  polygamists 

211 


was  almost  insuperable,  until  Congress  intervened  with  neces- 
sary legislation. 

This  preliminary  statement  is  necessary  for  a  proper  esti- 
mate and  just  understanding  of  the  conduct  and  motives  of 
the  judges  and  officers  who  undertook  to  enforce  obedience 
to  the  laws  of  the  United  States  in  Utah. 

Early  in  March  of  1882,  Mr.  Dickson  and  I  opened  a  law 
office  in  the  City  of  Salt  Lake,  Utah,  and  Mr.  Dickson  at 
once  took  charge  of  the  office.  I  remained  in  Nevada  for  a 
time  for  the  purpose  of  settling  up  my  affairs,  but  came  to 
Salt  Lake  City  in  the  summer,  and  also  in  the  autumn,  of  that 
year,  and  during  the  following  year  was  engaged  in  profes- 
sional business  here.  Both  of  us  were  resident  citizens  of 
the  Territory  when  District  Attorney  Van  Zile  resigned,  and 
Mr.  Dickson  did  not  receive  his  appointment  until  two  years 
after  our  beginning  the  practice  of  law  in  Utah,  to  wit,  on 
March  4,  1884.  We  were  not  adventurers,  political  or  other- 
wise, in  any  sense,  but  permanent  residents  of  Utah. 

The  case  of  Rudger  Clawson  was  stated  by  Mr.  Whitney 
to  be  "the  virtual  opening,  on  the  part  of  the  courts,  of  the 
great  anti-polygamy  crusade."  It  will  be  noted  that  in  this 
statement  the  historian  truly  expresses  the  thought  of  the 
Mormon  people  that  all  effort  on  the  part  of  the  government 
or  its  officers  to  enforce  obedience  to  the  anti-polygamy  laws 
was  a  crusade — that  is,  a  war  against  a  religious  faith.  The 
opposition  to  the  enforcement  of  such  laws  is  termed  in  the 
"history" — "the  general  cause,"  meaning  thereby  the  under- 
taking, in  defiance  of  the  laws,  in  which  all  the  Mormon 
people  were  interested  and  allied.  It  is  further  stated  that 
circumstances  had  made  Clawson  the  champion  of  this  cause. 
I  may  properly,  therefore,  begin  this  review  with  his  case. 

Admitting  that  Clawson  was  guilty  of  the  charge  made 
in  the  indictment  against  him,  the  historian  devotes  some  pages 
to  a  criticism  of  the  rulings  by  the  court  upon  challenges  to 
grand  jurors  made  by  the  United  States  attorney  and  to  the 
ruling  supporting  the  motion  for  an  open  venire  for  grand 
jurors.  As  to  the  first  motion,  the  whole  matter  hinged  upon 
the  construction  of  the  language  employed  in  section  five  of 
the  Edmunds  law.  The  defendant's  counsel,  upon  motion  to 
quash  the  indictment,  insisted  that  the  provision  in  that  sec- 

212 


tion  authorizing  challenges  for  cause  upon  the  ground  of 
belief,  as  hereinbefore  set  out,  only  applied  to  petit  jurors 
and  not  to  grand  jurors.  It  would  seem  to  all  fair-minded 
persons  that  the  judgment  of  the  supreme  court  of  the  United 
States  in  that  case  sustaining  the  construction  of  the  act  ad- 
vanced by  the  government  attorneys,  and  accepted  by  Judge 
Zane,  would  be  a  sufficient  acquittance  of  all  improper  con- 
duct or  motive.  (114  U.  S.,  484.) 

Indeed,  without  the  express  provision  of  the  statute 
authorizing  challenges  upon  the  ground  of  belief  that  it  was 
right  to  have  more  than  one  living  and  undivorced  wife  at 
one  time,  and  to  live  in  the  practice  of  unlawful  cohabitation 
with  more  than  one  woman,  it  should  be  plain  to  the  most 
ordinary  understanding  that  such  belief  would  authorize  a 
challenge  to  the  favor,  as  at  common  law,  since  it  would  be 
idle  to  attempt  to  indict  and  prosecute  men  for  crimes  of 
polygamy  and  unlawful  cohabitation,  with  grand  and  petit 
jurors  who  believed  that  the  accused  had  a  right  to  commit 
such  offenses. 

In  the  "history"  is  said  that  Mr.  Dickson  and  I,  as  new 
men,  were  anxious  to  distinguish  ourselves  in  an  assault  upon 
the  system  which  had  proved  the  rock  upon  which  so  many 
federal  officials  had  gone  to  pieces ;  and  pages  are  devoted  to 
a  discussion  of  the  question  presented  by  the  motion  made 
by  the  government  in  this  case  for  an  open  venire  to  bring 
in  additional  jurors  in  order  that  the  panel  might  be  com- 
pleted and  the  trial  had.  The  jury-list  for  the  year  had  been 
exhausted,  and  no  names  remained  in  the  jury  box.  I  assume 
full  responsibility  for  moving  the  court  to  issue  an  open 
venire.  I  see  no  connection  between  my  act  in  that  behalf 
with  any  assumed  desire  to  oppress  the  people.  I  had  been 
the  district  attorney  for  the  United  States  for  the  State  of 
Nevada  for  a  number  of  years  during  the  administrations  of 
three  Presidents,  and  was  reasonably  familiar  with  the  laws 
of  the  United  States  and  the  procedure  of  its  courts.  It  is 
not  true  that  I  "expressed  doubts"  as  to  the  power  of  the 
court  to  grant  the  motion,  because  I  never  had  any  question 
in  the  premises.  In  this  matter,  as  in  the  matter  of  the  chal- 
lenges, the  order  of  Judge  Zane  was  approved  and  the  case 
affirmed  in  the  supreme  court  of  the  United  States.  (114 

213 


U.  S.,  477.)  The  brief  for  the  United  States,  submitted  upon 
the  hearing  of  the  case  in  the  supreme  court  of  the  Territory, 
was  called  for  by  Solicitor-General  Phillips,  who  approved 
the  same  in  a  personal  letter  to  me. 

Criticism  is  made  of  the  foreman  of  the  grand  jury  who, 
it  is  said,  was  an  apostate  Mormon,  and  it  was  asked,  "Who 
can  hate  like  an  apostate?"  I  do  not  remember  that,  at  any 
time  in  any  case,  any  inquiry  was  ever  made  by  the  church 
attorneys  upon  the  examination  of  jurors  summoned  for  the 
grand  or  petit  juries,  as  to  any  feeling  or  prejudice  entertained 
against  the  Mormon  people ;  and  with  all  the  denunciation 
and  complaint  of  the  time,  which  is  in  part  crystallized  and 
expressed  by  the  historian,  I  have  yet  to  learn  of  one  person 
who  was  convicted  of  an  offense  against  the  laws  of  the 
United  States  who  was  innocent.  Upon  conviction  in  this 
case,  the  plaintiff  asked  to  be  admitted  to  bail  pending  his 
appeal,  which  was  denied,  and  defendant  sued  out  a  writ  of 
habeas  corpus  in  the  territorial  court,  and  from  the  adverse 
judgment  therein,  appealed  to  the  supreme  court  of  the 
United  States.  That  court,  in  accordance  with  the  express 
provision  of  the  territorial  law  (which  was  the  law  relied 
upon),  held  that  the  bail  was  not  a  matter  of  right  after  con- 
viction and  sentence,  but  was  one  of  discretion  with  the  court. 

The  case  of  the  United  States  against  Evans  is  considered, 
in  the  "history,"  as  one  affording  an  easy  victory  for  the 
prosecution,  the  defendant's  plural  wife,  Harriet  Parry,  and  her 
mother,  Elizabeth  Parry,  being  "willing  witnesses,  bent  upon 
his  conviction."  The  historian  proceeds  to  say  that  Mr.  Dick- 
son  "was  so  confident  of  the  result  that  he  improved  the  in- 
terim after  the  jury  retired,  and  before  they  had  returned 
their  verdict,  by  moving  that  the  prisoner,  pending  judgment, 
be  remanded  to  the  custody  of  the  marshal,  and  that,  there- 
upon, counsel  proceeded  to  argue  the  motion."  This  state- 
ment is,  of  course,  not  true.  Mr.  Dickson  never  made  such  a  mo- 
tion at  such  a  time,  and  if  inquiry  had  been  made  by  the 
writer  of  the  "history"  of  persons  qualified  to  speak,  he  would 
have  been  informed  that  no  court  would  have  entertained  such 
a  motion.  It  is  next  asserted  that  the  prosecuting  officers 
had  proceeded  to  great  extremities  in  the  matter  of  the  trials 
above  referred  to,  and  thereafter  deemed  it  advisable  that 

214 


they  should  know  how  far  and  to  what  Extent  they  could  rely 
upon  the  court  of  last  resort  to  sustain  them  in  their  acts,  but 
that  they,  as  crusaders,  were  "in  the  meantime  not  idle/' 
As  further  evidence  of  the  justice  and  impartial  attitude  of 
this  writer  of  history,  one  excerpt  from  Vol.  Ill,  page  326, 
is  instructive.  He  there  says: 

"One  thought  seemed  to  pervade  the  minds  of  most  of  our 
federal  officials  at  that  period — the  overthrow  of  Mormonism,  or 
at  all  events,  the  suppression  of  polgamy  and  the  annihilation  of 
the  political  power  of  the  Mormons.  Murder,  seduction,  robbery, 
and  other  crimes  were,  to  all  appearances,  less  heinous  to  their 
eyes  than  plural  marriage  and  the  union  of  the  Church  and  State 
that  was  alleged  to  exist  in  Utah.  Against  these  twin  objects  of 
their  aversion,  every  legal,  judicial  and  executive  battering-ram 
was  mainly  directed." 

The  records  of  the  courts  will  show  that  during  the  period 
under  consideration,  at  every  term  of  the  court,  indictments  were 
presented  for  all  kinds  of  crimes,  and  the  calendars  were  made 
up  of  cases  wherein  the  Territory  as  well  as  the  United  States  was 
the  plaintiff.  And  here  this  writer  of  the  "history"  gives  free  play 
to  his  fancy,  and  from  his  imagination  evolves  the  charge  that — 

"Whether  innocent  or  guilty,  presidents,  apostles,  bishops, 
and  other  elders  of  influence,  must  be  made  to  feel,  to  some  ex- 
tent, the  thumbscrew  and  the  rack,  for  the  purpose  of  extorting 
from  the  head  of  the  church  a  declaration  of  the  church's  sur- 
render." 

In  this  connection,  it  is  truly  stated  that  the  requirement  of 
the  Mormon  leaders  was :  "Come  within  the  law  and  advise  your 
people  to  likewise" — Why  not?  Subsequently,  by  doing  so  or 
promising  and  professing  to  do  so,  those  leaders  brought  peace  to 
the  people.  Notwithstanding  the  open  admission  that  no  innocent 
person  was  convicted,  charges  are  made  of  hirelings  entering  the 
bedchambers  of  women  and  sick  rooms ;  of  breaking  into  houses 
by  deputies  armed  with  axes ;  of  driving  women  at  night  in  vehi- 
cles filled  with  profane  and  half-drunken  men ;  of  more  than  one 
woman  perishing  from  the  effects  of  the  brutal  treatment  re- 
ceived ;  of  fugitives  being  shot  at,  and,  in  one  instance,  a  reputable 
citizen  being  slain  without  provocation  by  an  over-zealous  mar- 
shal. The  historian  gives  no  particulars — and  it  is  certain  that  he 
would  have  given  names,  dates,  and  details,  if  he  were  able  to  do 
so.  Such  conduct  on  the  part  of  government  officers  would  have 

215 


been  generally  denounced  to  the  courts  and  at  Washington,  and 
promptly  punished — had  there  been  occasion.  The  entire  state- 
ment is  false.  Nor  was  any  person  slain  by  a  deputy  marshal 
other  than  the  man  Dalton,  whose  case  will  be  considered  further 
on.  In  the  recital  of  his  indictments  against  the  government  and 
its  officers  in  Utah,  the  writer  takes  up  the  cases  of  some  persons 
convicted  in  Arizona  who  were  sentenced  to  the  Detroit  House  of 
Correction.  He  proceeds  to  quote  from  the  supposed  speech  of 
one  Bean,  a  delegate  to  Congress  from  Arizona,  made  before  the 
Committee  on  Territories,  of  the  House,  in  which  he  said  that  they 
had  convicted  three  Mormon  bishops  for  unlawful  cohabitation, 
and  then  sentenced  them,  under  the  law  for  polygamy,  for  three 
years.  This  sort  of  stuff  must  be  made  for  consumption  in  the 
rural  districts  of  Utah,  where  the  plain  farmers  are  not  familiar 
with  the  procedure  or  the  practice  of  courts.  If  the  writer  had 
consulted  some  of  the  church  lawyers  before  incorporating  this 
matter  in  his  "history,"  he  would  have  learned  that  such  a  judg- 
ment could  have  been  reached  by  even  a  writ  of  habeas  corpus, 
to  say  nothing  of  an  appeal,  and  that  the  places  for  confinement 
of  federal  prisoners  were  designated  by  the  Department  of  Jus- 
tice, and  not  by  the  courts.  That  the  Mormon  church  was  deter- 
mined that  its  followers  should  not  agree  to  or  obey  the  laws  of 
the  United  States,  prohibiting  polygamy,  etc.,  is  candidly  ad- 
mitted by  the  historian  in  his  reference  to  the  case  of  Orson  P. 
Arnold,  who  pleaded  guilty  to  the  charge  of  unlawful  cohabita- 
tion and  promised  to  obey  the  law.  It  is  said  therein  that  most  of 
the  Mormon  people  gazed  upon  the  incident  (?)  with  astonish- 
ment and  grief ;  "that  his  example  was  followed  by  several  of  his 
brethren,  and  probably  would  have  been  by  many  more  but  for 
the  firm  stand  taken  by  the  [Deseret]  News,  and  the  no  less 
stalwart  position  of  the  Church  leaders,  whose  views  that  paper 
enunciated." 

The  fact  of  the  matter  is,  that  practically  an  entire  people 
were  in  open  hostility  and  rebellion  against  the  government  of  the 
United  States.  They  were  not  in  arms,  it  is  true,  but  they  denied 
the  authority  of  Congress  to  enact  laws  and  prescribe  offenses, 
and  the  authority  of  courts  to  interpret  those  laws  and  the  con- 
stitution; and  they  denounced  officers  who  had  taken  oaths  to 
enforce  the  laws  of  the  government,  because  they  had  refused  to 
close  their  eyes  to  violations  of  laws  and  stay  their  hands  from 

216 


executing  them.  They  only  admitted  the  authority  of  the  courts 
when  the  decisions  were  in  accord  with  their  views,  and  from 
adverse  decisions,  appeal  was  always  made  to  a  "higher  law  than 
the  constitution/' 

It  is  not  strange,  therefore,  that  the  authorities,  most  of  them 
being  polygamists,  as  is  admitted,  should  strenuously  object  to 
any  one  of  the  people  pleading  guilty  to  a  charge  of  polygamy  or 
unlawful  cohabitation.  Arnold's  example  was  followed  later  by 
a  number  of  polygamists.  Bishop  Sharp,  "one  of  the  foremost 
characters  in  the  community,"  as  stated  by  the  historian,  pleaded 
guilty  to  the  charge  of  unlawful  cohabitation  and  promised  to 
obey  the  laws  as  interpreted  by  the  courts.  I  cannot  say,  of  my 
own  knowledge,  that  Bishop  Sharp  was  deprived  of  his  bishopric 
because  of  this  action,  since  no  Gentile  can  speak  as  to  the  reasons 
moving  the  church  authorities  in  such  a  case ;  but  it  was  currently 
reported  and  stated  by  persons  said  to  have  knowledge,  that  the 
bishop  was  deposed,  and  for  that  reason. 

A  serious  question  as  to  the  construction  of  the  act  of  Con- 
gress defining  the  crime  of  unlawful  cohabitation  was  made  in 
the  case  of  Angus  M.  Cannon.  On  behalf  of  the  government,  it 
was  contended  that  the  Edmunds  law  was  directed  against  the 
status  which  fixed  the  habit  and  practice  of  living  under  the 
guise  of  marriage  with  two  or  more  women — holding  them  out  to 
the  world  as  his  wives — and  not  against  the  sexual  offenses  de- 
fined by  the  statute,  and  that  the  question  of  sexual  intercourse  be- 
tween them  was  immaterial.  This  contention  was  strenuously  op- 
posed by  the  church  attorneys,  but  was  sustained  by  the  territorial 
supreme  court,  and  finally  by  the  supreme  court  of  the  United 
States.  (116  U.  S.,  p.  55). 

About  this  time,  at  a  meeting  in  the  tabernacle  called  for  the 
purpose,  "a  declaration  of  grievances  and  protests"  was  made,  di- 
rected to  the  President  and  people  of  the  United  States,  in  which, 
among  other  things,  it  was  said : 

"We  protest  against  the  partial  administration  of  the  Ed- 
munds law — punishment  of  one  class  for  practicing  their  religion 
and  exempting  from  prosecution  the  votaries  of  lust  and  crime." 

"The  United  States  attorney  and  assistant  attorney  and  com- 
missioner, in  pursuance  of  an  invitation  extended  by  the  chair- 
man of  the  meeting,  attended  and  took  their  places  in  the  gallery 
at  the  northeast  end.  The  body  of  the  house  was  largely  filled 

217 


with  women,  and  as  the  United  States  officers  arose  in  their  seats 
to  pass  down  and  out  from  the  gallery,  the  entire  audience  in  the 
body  of  the  house  arose  to  their  feet  and  hissed,  pointing  their 
fingers  at  them.  This  action  was  but  the  natural  result  of  the  false 
and  misleading  claim  made  by  and  on  behalf  of  the  church  author- 
ities as  to  the  true  interpretation  of  the  laws,  and  the  bitter  and 
continuous  public  and  private  denunciation  of  the  officers  by  the 
church  authorities  and  press,  whereby  the  people  were  taught  to 
look  upon  the  officers  as  monsters  of  vice  and  corruption. 

A  noticeable  event  of  the  period  was  the  flight  from  Utah  of 
President  George  Q.  Cannon,  who  was  under  indictment,  and  for 
whom  a  reward  was  offered  by  the  United  States  marshal.  Can- 
non was  arrested  in  Humboldt  county,  Nevada,  by  Frank  Fellows, 
sheriff  of  that  county,  who  subsequently  told  me  that  Mr.  Can- 
non was  in  disguise,  and  on  a  railroad  train  going  west,  at  the 
time  of  his  arrest.  While  in  the  custody  of  a  deputy  marshal  upon 
his  return  trip  to  Utah,  he  jumped  from  the  train  at  or  near 
Promontory,  and  the  officer,  upon  learning  of  his  absence,  did  the 
same,  and  after  some  hours  he  was  finally  recaptured  and  brought 
into  the  city  and  placed  under  heavy  bonds  upon  three  charges — 
$25,000  in  one,  and  $10,000  upon  each  of  the  other  two.  When 
called  for  trial  Mr.  Cannon  did  not  appear,  and  these  bonds  were 
forfeited.  The  sureties  on  the  $25,000  bond  promptly  paid  the 
amount,  but  those  for  the  $20,000  bond  becoming  recalcitrant,  suit 
was  brought  by  the  government  and  judgment  was  given  against 
them  in  the  territorial  supreme  court.  Although  the  case  was  ap- 
pealed, Congress  in  the  meantime  intervened  and  remitted  the  pen- 
alty, and  so  it  was  never  heard  in  the  supreme  court  of  the  United 
States.  In  this  connection  Mr.  Whitney  ventures  to  again  depart 
from  the  field  of  historical  truth,  arfd  inspired  by  his  feelings 
doubtless,  charges  the  government  officers  with  being  much  cha- 
grined and  disappointed  at  this  ending  of  the  Cannon  case,  for 
which  the  forfeiture  of  the  bond  was  no  adequate  compensation. 
This  conclusion  was  erroneous.  Mr.  Cannon,  as  a  fugitive  from 
justice  presented  a  more  striking  and  persuasive  object-lesson  to 
his  followers  than  his  presence  as  a  prisoner  in  the  penitentiary 
could  possibly  have  done.  And  the  flight  of  the  president  and  his 
counselors,  and  that  of  others  high  in  authority  in  the  church, 
evidencing  as  it  did  a  disinclination  on  the  part  of  the  leaders  to 
accept  the  prescription  prescribed  for  their  followers — of  going  to 

218 


prison  for  conscience-sake — did  much  to  open  the  eyes  of  a  de- 
luded people  as  to  the  unnecessary  folly  of  continuing  a  hopeless 
resistance  to  the  enforcement  of  the  law. 

There  were  three  celebrated  cases  which  are  dealt  with  by  Mr. 
Whitney  and  require  notice,  to  wit,  those  of  Thompson,  McMurrin 
and  Hampton.  William  Thompson,  Jr.,  was  a  deputy  marshal 
residing  at  Beaver  and  in  charge  of  that  district,  early  in  the  year 
1885.  An  indictment  was  found  in  that  district  against  Edward 
M.  Dalton  for  unlawful  cohabitation.  A  warrant  was  issued  and 
he  was  arrested,  but  made  his  escape  from  custody  and  continued 
at  large  for  a  period  of  about  one  year,  and  until  he  was  killed  as 
hereinafter  related.  In  the  meantime  he  was  reindicted,  and  there 
were  two  warrants  for  his  arrest  in  the  hands  of  Deputy  Marshal 
Thompson.  In  the  spring  of  1886,  pursuant  to  information  re- 
ceived, Thompson  went  to  Parowan  for  the  purpose  of  rearresting 
Dalton.  The  facts  as  disclosed  before  the  grand  and  trial  juries, 
were  substantially  these :  Thompson  was  at  a  friend's  house,  which 
was  situated  a  little  back  from  the  road  which  intersected  a  cross- 
road at  right  angles  about  one  hundred  yards  or  such  a  matter 
from  the  house ;  Dalton  was  driving  some  stock  and  came  around 
the  corner  from  the  crossroad,  down  in  front  of  the  house. 
Thompson  stepped  out  from  the  gateway  of  the  lot  and  called 
upon  Dalton  to  surrender,  stating  (which  Dalton  already  knew) 
that  he  had  a  warrant,  or  warrants,  for  him.  Dalton  was  riding  a 
superior  animal,  and  without  a  moment's  hesitation  swung  his 
horse  around  and  put  him  on  the  run  toward  the  cross-road.  Just 
as  he  was  turning  the  corner  the  marshal  shot  him,  and  Dalton 
died  from  the  wound.  Thompson  was  indicted  by  the  grand  jury 
for  manslaughter,  and  I  prosecuted  for  the  government,  Thomp- 
son being  defended  by  Mr.  P.  L.  Williams.  It  was  the  duty  of  the 
United  States  attorney  to  state  the  law  governing  the  case  to  the 
court  and  jury  as  he  understood  it,  and  it  was  the  duty  of  the  trial 
judge  to  direct  the  jury  as  to  the  law  as  he  found  it  to  be.  In  my 
address  to  the  court,  which  I  now  have,  transcribed  from  the  re- 
porter's notes,  I  reviewed  the  acts  of  Congress  on  the  subject  of 
crimes  from  the  foundation  of  the  government,  with  the  conclu- 
sion that  there  was  no  federal  statute  defining  felonies  or  mis- 
demeanors, and  that  the  distinction  observed  by  the  common  law 
was  not  applicable  and  could  not  be  made  effective  under  our 
system.  For  instance,  all  felonies  at  common  law  were  punishable 

219 
8 


with  death,  and,  until  modified  by  English  statutes,  accompanied 
by  corruption  of  blood  and  forfeiture  of  estate.  Under  the  bar- 
barous criminal  laws  of  England,  which  were  enforced  at  and 
even  later  than  the  time  of  the  American  Revolution,  the  most 
trivial  offenses  were  declared  to  be  crimes  and  punishable  with 
death,  and  in  subsequent  years  by  transportation  for  life — such 
as-  stealing  a  six-penny  handkerchief  from  a  linen-draper's  shop, 
or  a  loaf  of  bread  from  a  baker's  counter.  Upon  an  examination 
of  the  acts  of  Congress  it  appeared  that  the  terms,  "felony"  and 
"misdemeanor,"  were  applied  indiscriminately  to  offenses  where 
the  punishment  was  imprisonment  in  penitentiaries,  and  that  in 
many  instances,  crimes  which  carried  long  terms  of  imprisonment 
in  such  places  were  designated  misdemeanors,  and  where  the  of- 
fense was  declared  to  be  a  felony,  there  was  no  difference  in  the 
penalties  imposed  from  those  attached  to  other  offenses.  In  a 
large  majority  of  cases  the  offenses  declared  were  not  designated 
either  as  felonies  or  misdemeanors.  Indeed,  the  word  "misde- 
meanor," as  used  at  times  in  the  English  law  and  found  in  the 
constitution  of  the  United  States,  is  classed  with  high  crimes  like 
treason — offenses  of  magnitude — and  not  restricted  to  petty  of- 
fenses. In  the  very  law  under  which  Dalton  was  indicted,  Con- 
gress, in  defining  the  offenses  of  polygamy  and  unlawful  cohabi- 
tation, designated  the  latter  offense  as  a  misdemeanor,  but  as  to 
polygamy,  made  no  classification.  Both  were  made  punishable 
in  the  same  way,  the  only  difference  being  in  the  extent  of  the 
punishment. 

I  further  contended  that  the  territorial  law  relative  to  arrests 
was  not  applicable,  and  was  not  the  rule  by  which  the  acts  of 
government  officers,  executing  the  process  of  the  United  States 
courts,  were  to  be  tested.  The  contention  of  the  church  paper 
and  the  historian,  as  shown  in  the  "history",  was  that  under  no 
circumstances  could  a  marshal  of  the  United  States,  with  a  war- 
rant for  the  arrest  of  a  man  for  unlawful  cohabitation,  employ 
force  to  arrest  the  offender,  unless  he  could  lay  hands  upon  him 
and  restrain  him  by  superior  strength.  He  must  not  use  arms 
to  make  the  arrest,  because  the  territorial  law  only  permitted  such 
use  of  force  in  the  case  of  felons.  Upon  this  theory  and  concep- 
tion of  the  law,  if  an  indicted  man  was  on  horseback  or  in  a  car- 
riage drawn  by  a  fast  team,  and  the  marshal  was  on  foot,  he  would 
fully  perform  his  duty  by  politely  requesting  the  accused  person 

220 


to  dismount  from  his  horse  or  alight  from  his  carriage  and  sub- 
mit to  arrest,  and  if  the  man  refused  and  rode  or  drove  away, 
that  was  the  end  of  it.  I  repudiated  this  theory  in  my  argument 
to  the  court,  and  contended  that,  if  it  should  be  found  by  the  jury 
that  Dalton  had  been  indicted  and  had  escaped,  or  knew  that  a 
warrant  was  out  for  him  and  had  been  called  upon  to  surrender, 
the  further  and  only  question  for  the  jury  to  determine  was* 
whether  it  was  necessary  to  shoot  in  order  to  prevent  his  escape ; 
that  the  government  of  the  United  States  had  not  the  power, 
through  its  officers,  to  employ  all  means  necessary  to  arrest  and 
bring  to  the  judgment  of  its  courts  offenders  who  had  been  in- 
dicted for  violation  of  its  laws,  was  a  new  and  inadmissable 
theory.  The  presiding  judge  so  charged  the  jury,  and  the  jury 
presumably  found  the  facts  as  hereinbefore  stated,  and  acquitted 
Thompson.  Of  course  the  acquittal  was  denounced  by  the  church 
authorities  and  press,  since  from  the  beginning  they  had  recog- 
nized no  authority  above  that  of  their  seers  and  prophets,  and 
had  denounced  all  law  which  did  not  conform  to  their  ideas  of 
right  and  justice.  There  was  a  full  report  of  the  trial,  including 
the  argument  and  the  charge  of  the  court,  which  was  printed  in 
pamphlet  form  and  sent  to  Washington.  The  church  lawyers  and 
representatives  complained  at  the  Department  of  Justice,  and  to 
senators  and  representatives  of  Congress,  basing  their  complaints 
upon  the  law  alleged  to  be  set  out  in  the  "history,"  but  noth- 
ing came  of  it.  The  startling  and  strange  conception  that  the 
government  of  the  United  States  was  powerless  to  make  arrests 
through  its  officers  of  persons  charged  with  violations  of  its  laws 
by  using  force  if  necessary,  received  no  recognition  at  Washington. 
On  the  contrary,  the  law  as  asserted  by  the  district  attorney,  and 
announced  by  the  court,  was  recognized  and  approved.  Never- 
theless, in  the  church  press  and  from  the  church  pulpits,  the  killing 
of  Dalton  was  denounced  as  a  cold-blooded  murder,  and  Deputy 
Thompson  and  I  were  charged  as  murderers.  Upon  the  conclu- 
sion of  the  trial  the  Deseret  News  in  a  frenzy  of  ferocious  rage, 
with  a  wealth  of  invective  and  denunciation  seldom  equaled  and 
never  surpassed,  pictured  the  officers  as  assassins  who  henceforth 
were  to  be  denied  mercy  through  all  eternity.  The  historian  has 
seen  fit  to  print  in  his  veracious  book  a  part  of  this  despicable  and 
vicious  libel.  It  was  time  that  something  was  done  to  instruct  the 
Deseret  News  in  the  law  of  libel,  and  particularly  that  "liberty  of 

221 


the  press"  did  not  mean  license.  I  brought  suit  for  Thompson,  but 
did  not  "press  the  issue,"  as  there  was  no  necessity  for  so  doing. 
A  compromise  was  proposed  (by  the  attorney  for  the  News),  and 
$1,000  paid  and  accepted  in  satisfaction  of  the  claim.  No  action 
was  brought  by  or  on  behalf  of  myself  or  the  others  included 
in  the  libel.  The  only  intention  was  to  impress  upon  the  church 
press,  in  the  only  available  way,  the  necessity  of  observing  the  law 
of  libel. 

Although  Mr.  Whitney  reproduced  in  the  "history"  a  part  of 
the  libel,  thus  preserving  it  in  permanent  form  for  the  benefit  of 
the  large  number  of  his  co-religionists  who  have  access  to  the, 
book,  his  own  statement  of  the  case  clearly  shows  the  errors  of  his 
conclusions.  Is  it  fair  to  suggest,  that  in  dealing  with  men  not  of ^ 
his  faith,  the  historian  deems  himself  relieved  from  the  restraints 
of  the  moral  law,  and  free  to  say  of  any  one  of  such, — 

"Thou  art  stained 

With  every  crime  'gainst  which  the  Decalogue 
Thunders  with  all  its  thunder" — ? 

I  would  not  go  so  far.  I  am  inclined  to  the  opinion  that  he  did 
not  intend  so  much,  nor  realize  the  enormity  of  his  act  in  repub- 
lishing  a  confessed  libel. 

************ 
The  next  case,  that  of  Joseph  W.  McMurrin,  is  dealt  with 
by  Mr.  Whitney  in  a  very  peculiar  way.  Whether  intentionally 
or  not,  the  most  important  facts  are  eliminated  in  his  recount- 
ing, and  the  case  is  presented  in  the  usual  way,  with  the  in- 
ferences against  the  government  and  U.  S.  deputy  marshal.  Collin 
lived  within  and  toward  the  center  of  the  block  which  was 
entered  from  State  street  through  Social  Hall  alley.  The 
alley  was  not  lighted,  and  upon  the  evening  in  question — stated 
in  the  "history"  to  be  that  of  November  28th — Collin  was  go- 
ing to  his  home  and  encountered  four  persons  who  made  an  at- 
tack upon  him  in  the  alley.  He  testified  before  the  grand  jury 
that  the  men  making  the  assault  were  armed  with  clubs,  and 
in  the  darkness  he  could  not  see  their  faces,  and  had  no  knowl- 
edge of  who  they  were.  McMurrin,  it  seems,  admits  that  he 
struck  at  Collin  in  the  alleyway.  Naturally  Collin  defended 
himself,  and  in  such  defense  he  shot  McMurrin.  Collin  sur- 
rendered to  the  marshal,  who  immediately  informed  me  of  the 
occurrence.  I  directed  him  to  hold  Collin,  and  made  complaint 

222 


before  the  United  States  commissioner,  and  had  a  warrant  is- 
sued. Subsequently  the  police  authorities  made  a  demand 
upon  the  marshal,  and  then  upon  me,  for  the  prisoner,  and  I 
refused  to  permit  him  to  be  delivered  to  the  police.  I  had  no 
intention  of  permitting  the  deputy  to  be  placed  in  the  hands 
of  the  city  police,  as  I  had  a  very  vivid  recollection  of  what 
happened  to  the  insane  negro  who  killed  Marshal  Burt  some 
years  before  when  the  police  brought  him  to  the  station.  Mc- 
Murrin  was  indicted  (Mr.  Whitney  is  mistaken  in  his  state- 
ment that  no  indictment  was  found),  and  for  a  week  or  more 
while  waiting  for  him  to  be  able  to  appear  to  plead  to  the 
indictment,  his  attending  physician  came  every  morning  to 
the  clerk's  office  and  filed  his  professional  statement  that  Mc- 
Murrin  was  unable  physically  to  attend  the  court.  On  the 
very  day  when  he  went  into  hiding  or  left  the  Territory,  this 
physician,  in  my  presence,  wrote  his  usual  report  and  it  was 
filed.  Some  hours  after  we  learned  that  McMurrin  had  gone. 
As  I  am  informed,  he  went  to  Europe,  was  connected  in  some 
way  with  foreign  missions,  and  did  not  return  for  several 
years.  When  he  did  return,  an  application  was  made  to  me 
by  his  friends,  and  I  think  he  came  to  see  me  personally,  re- 
sulting in  my  dismissing  the  indictment  against  him.  I  can- 
not remember  whether  this  dismissal  occurred  during  the 
time  Mr.  Dickson  was  United  States  attorney  and  I  assistant, 
or  whether  it  happened  during  my  administration  as  United 
States  attorney,  beginning  in  1889.  There  is  no  doubt  that 
Collin  was  attacked  because  of  his  zeal  and  efficiency  as  a 
deputy  marshal,  and  the  silly  statement  of  McMurrin  that  he 
had  a  difficulty  with  Collin,  and  having  ran  against  him  in  the 
dark  alley,  he  struck  at  him,  when  Collin  fired,  is  absurd.  He 
fails  to  account  for  the  presence  of  the  other  men  armed 
with  clubs,  and  gives  no  reason  for  his  own  presence  at  the 
place. 

***#***#**## 

The  case  of  Hampton  deserves  more  extended  notice,  since 
it  was  made  the  subject  of  a  sneering  criticism  by  the  histor- 
ian, and  moreover  completely  illustrates  the  disposition  of 
those  who  were  arrayed  against  the  government  to — 

"Compound  for  sins  they  are  inclined  to, 
By  damning  those  they  have  no  mind  to." 

223 


The  thought  seems  to  have  been  that  if  it  should  be  ascer- 
tained that  others  of  the  non-Mormon  population  were  found 
to  be  guilty  of  offenses  against  the  law,  it  would  be  a  sufficient 
answer  to  the  prosecutions  which  were  being  brought  by  the 
government.  In  this  view,  certain  prominent  and  influential 
Mormon  citizens  of  Salt  Lake  City  conceived  the  idea  of  open- 
ing houses  of  ill-fame  in  certain  localities  of  the  municipality 
for  the  purpose  of  enticing  prominent  government  officials  and 
others  into  the  commission  of  offenses,  in  order  that  they 
might  be  detected  and  publicity  be  given  to  their  crimes.  A 
concise  and  complete  statement  of  the  matter  is  found  in  the 
report  of  the  grand  jury  for  the  third  judicial  district  of  the 
Territory,  made  in  December  of  the  year  1885,  and  I  quote 
therefrom  as  follows : 

"Since  the  year  A.  D.  1876  there  has  been  a  statute  of  the 
Territory  prohibiting  the  keeping  of,  residing  in,  or  resorting 
to  houses  of  ill-fame  for  the  purpose  of  prostitution  or  lewd- 
ness.  During  a  great  part,  if  not  all,  of  the  period,  ordinances 
of  the  municipality  of  Salt  Lake  City  upon  the  same  subject 
have  been  in  existence.  Under  these  ordinances  a  few  weeks 
ago  a  number  of  prosecutions  were  instituted  under  circum- 
stances which  very  generally  attracted  public  attention.  These 
proceedings  were  summarily  brought  to  an  end  because  of  a 
ruling  of  this  court,  determining  the  questions  of  law  immedi- 
ately involved,  adversely  to  the  city.  The  attention  of  the 
grand  jury,  as  well  as  the  public,  was,  however,  directed  to 
certain  matters  connected  with  these  prosecutions,  and  in  the 
discharge  of  our  duty,  as  understood  by  us,  we  have  investi- 
gated the  same  as  thoroughly  as  the  means  at  our  command 
would  permit. 

"Officers  of  the  county  and  city  government,  together 
with  private  citizens,  have  appeared  before  us  and  been  sworn 
and  examined,  and  the  present  result  of  our  inquiry  is  embod- 
ied in  indictments  herewith  returned.  We  are  not  content, 
however,  to  pass  the  matter  over  without  further  and  emphatic 
expression  condemnatory  of  the  methods  and  practices  here- 
inafter mentioned.  Sometime  in  April  or  May  last,  an  officer 
of  the  city  government  not  connected  with  the  police,  with 
others  unknown  at  present  to  the  grand  jury,  entered  into  a 
conspiracy  to  open  houses  of  assignation  and  ill-fame  within 
the  city  limits,  for  the  avowed  purpose  of  entrapping  weak 
and  vicious  people  into  the  commission  of  offenses  against 
chastity  and  morality,  in  order  that  all  such  might  be  exposed 
and  punished  in  the  courts.  This  scheme  involved  the  rent- 
ing and  fitting  up  of  houses  for  the  purpose,  the  employment 

224 


of  public  and  private  prostitutes,  the  conversion  of  the  police 
bureau  into  a  nest  of  spotters  and  spies,  and  the  expenditure 
of  a  large  sum  of  money.  For  years  there  have  been  well- 
known  houses  of  prostitution  in  Salt  Lake  which  have  been 
under  police  surveillance,  and  at  stated  periods  have  contribu- 
ted materially  to  the  revenues  of  the  municipality.  Several  of 
these  houses  are  situated  on  the  main  and  prominent  streets 
of  the  city,  and  with  their  keepers  and  proprietors  have  been, 
and  are  by  reputation,  generally  known  in  the  community. 

"We  do  not  understand  that  the  scheme  above  mentioned 
contemplated  the  investigation  of  these  places,  nor  the  en- 
forcement of  the  law  against  those  who  resided  therein  or 
resorted  thereto  for  the  purposes  of  prostitution  or  lewdness. 
On  the  contrary,  as  appears  by  the  evidence  before  us,  the 
plan  was  conceived  and  carried  into  effect  without  reference 
to  the  suppression  of  existing  nuisances,  but  with  a  design  of 
using  the  criminal  law  as  a  snare  for  the  weak  and  immoral, 
and  with  the  object  in  part,  at  least,  of  creating  a  great  public 
scandal.  In  pursuance  of  this  scheme,  houses  were  rented  and 
furnished  on  West  Temple  street,  and  women  placed  in  pos- 
session thereof.  These  houses  were  so  altered  and  arranged 
in  their  interior  that  persons  could  be  placed  to  observe  all 
that  transpired  within,  and  every  member  of  the  police  force 
of  Salt  Lake  City,  with  two  honorable  exceptions,  John  Y. 
Smith  and  William  Calder,  volunteered  his  services  as  a  spy 
and  informer  in  aid  of  the  conspiracy.  The  women  were  hired 
to  perform  their  parts,  and  their  exertions  stimulated  by  the 
promise  of  exorbitant  sums  for  their  success  in  entrapping 
high  officials.  One  of  these  creatures  was  promised  $1,000  in 
the  event  of  her  being  able  to  draw  the  governor  of  the  Terri- 
tory into  her  toils. 

"In  the  course  of  their  operations,  these  women  conveyed 
notes  of  invitation  to  many  prominent  officials  and  citizens, 
requesting  interviews  on  business  at  the  places  designated. 
The  following,  leaving  the  names  blank,  is  a  sample  of  these 
notes,  delivered  by  messenger  boys : 

"Salt  Lake  City,  July  25,  1885. 

"Dear  Sir :    "If  convenient,  I  would  be  pleased  to  have 
you  call  to  see  me  this  afternoon  or  about  dusk  this  evening. 
I  want  to  see  you  on  particular  business.     Please  send 
answer  by  messenger  boy  when  you  will  call. 
Respectfully, 


"We  are  informed  by  persons  engaged  in  this  infamous 
plot,  that  from  their  secret  posts  of  observation  they  from  time 
to  time  personally  witnessed  all  that  took  place  in  apartments 
in  these  houses  visited  by  men  and  women  who  were  weak  and 

225 


depraved  enough  to  respond  to  the  opportunities  presented 
to  them.  Their  names  were  taken  and  the  evidence  noted  for 
future  reference  and  use. 

"When  the  exposure  of  this  conspiracy  was  at  hand  the 
houses  were  closed.  One  woman  was  sent  to  California  up- 
on a  ticket  furnished  her.  Another  was  driven  to  Francklyn 
by  a  police  officer,  who  had  previously  purchased  her  a  ticket, 
and  then  took  the  train  for  Denver  under  an  assumed  name. 
One  of  these  women  was  paid  by  the  city  official  above  refer- 
red to,  $300  or  $400,  and  the  other,  $700  for  her  services.  When 
the  women  were  safe  out  of  the  Territory,  complaints  were 
filed,  warrants  issued  and  arrests  made,  and  the  community 
thrown  into  a  state  of  excitement  and  alarm.  The  money  em- 
ployed in  this  scheme,  we  are  told  by  its  prime  mover,  was 
paid  by  one  of  the  high  officials  of  Salt  Lake  City.  It  is 
claimed  that  the  money  was  raised  by  private  subscription. 
We  have  been  unable  to  ascertain  that  any  part  of  it  came 
from  the  public  treasury.  Neither  the  mayor,  chief  of  police, 
nor  other  city  official,  except  as  herein  stated,  so  far  as  we 
can  learn,  were  advised  of  the  proceeding  until  the  plot  was 
ripe.  All  of  the  police  officers  engaged  in  it,  it  is  claimed, 
performed  the  services  required  when  off  duty.  One  of  them 
states  that  his  services  were  rendered  'for  the  good  of  the 
cause/  We  have  promptly  indicted  all  persons  connected  with 
this  unlawful  and  criminal  undertaking  against  whom  we 
could  procure  evidence,  but  we  are  not  satisfied  to  rest  here 
without  publicly  directing  the  attention  of  the  municipal  and 
county  officers  to  the  fact  that  a  great  crime  has  been  perpe- 
trated. 

"We  do  not  understand  that  the  criminal  law  of  the  Ter- 
ritory was  designed  to  aid  scoundrelly  spies,  sneaks  and  in- 
formers in  enticing  and  encouraging  well-disposed  persons  to 
commit  crime,  nor  to  tempt  weak  and  wicked  persons  to  dis- 
obey the  law.  The  law  is  humane  and  considerate,  and  has 
for  its  object  the  prevention  of  crime  and  the  reformation  as 
well  as  the  punishment  of  offenders.  It  does  not,  we  think, 
contemplate  the  commission  of  crimes  in  order  that  additional 
crimes  may  be  committed,  and  the  last  offenders  exposed  and 
punished." 

It  is  stated  in  the  "history,"  that  a  very  large  number 
of  arrests  were  made  by  the  police  for  offenses  charged  to 
have  been  committed  within  the  houses  referred  to  in  the 
grand  jury  report,  and  that  upon  their  reaching  the  district 
court  all  of  them  were  dismissed  by  the  prosecuting  officer, 
and  a  criticism  is  based  thereon.  Upon  the  motion  to  dismiss, 
made  in  the  district  court,  I  assumed  full  responsibility,  as  I 

226 


do  now,  for  the  action  taken  by  the  United  States  attorney's 
office.  In  support  of  the  motion,  I  made  the  argument  rest 
upon  the  fact  that  there  was  an  unlawful  conspiracy  to  induce, 
and  not  to  prevent  or  punish,  crime;  that  the  thought  under- 
lying this  conspiracy  was  based  upon  a  conception  that  if  Gen- 
tiles and  strangers  to  the  Mormon  people  were  guilty  of  of- 
fenses against  law  and  morals,  that  such  fact  would  be  evi- 
dence of  unfairness  in  prosecution  for  violation  of  the  laws 
of  the  United  States  against  polygamy  and  unlawful  cohabi- 
tation. Such  a  conclusion  was,  of  course,  a  non  sequitur.  Con- 
viction for  crime  upon  the  evidence  of  persons  engaged  in  in- 
viting and  tempting  people  to  commit  crime  has  always  been 
abhorrent  to  civilized  peoples.  In  the  argument  made  at  the 
time,  as  reported,  it  was  said : 

"Your  Honor  will  recollect  in  English  history  a  long  line 
of  cases  where  there  was  rebellion  threatening  the  British 
throne,  and  where  the  interests  of  the  hour  and  the  demands  of 
justice  required  that  this  class  of  persons  should  be  used  and 
employed  in  bringing  to  justice  offenders  against  the  law.  I 
say  your  Honor  will  recollect,  how  the  English  and  Irish 
people  steadily  set  their  faces  against  that  class  of  testimony, 
and  it  took  all  the  power  of  the  British  crown  and  the  judges 
under  it  to  enforce  verdicts  in  the  teeth  and  face  of  the  public 
conscience.  In  this  country  it  is  believed  that  no  prosecutions 
founded  upon  that  kind  of  evidence  can  be  maintained,  for  the 
reason  that  the  public  conscience  is  against  it,  and  the  public 
conscience  as  represented  in  the  jury  box,  will  not  permit  the 
law  to  be  prostituted  and  dishonored  in  that  way. 

"Now,  if  that  be  true  generally  as  to  persons  known  as  in- 
formers and  spies,  how  much  more  true  is  it  of  persons  who 
are  not  entitled  to  even  take  those  elevated  names?  They 
are  not  raised  to  the  dignity  of  informers  and  spies ;  they  are 
not  men  engaged  in  ferreting  out  crime — they  are  men  who 
are  producing  crime — who  by  their  money,  influence  or  efforts, 
are  debauching  the  public  mind  and  attempting  to  lead  the 
young  and  old  down  the  very  path  that  it  was  designed  to  keep 
them  from 'going.  Men  and  women,  old  and  young,  were  to 
be  drawn  into  their  toils  in  order  that  they  may  have  the  su- 
preme happiness  and  satisfaction  of  scandalizing  reputations 
and  breaking  hearts  here  and  there,  or  something  of  that  kind." 

In  the  "history"  none  of  the  facts  relative  to  the  opening 
of  houses  and  paying  out  of  money  to  prostitutes  and  the  pro- 
viding of  places  of  observation  within  the  houses  are  men- 
tioned, and  the  whole  and  entire  discussion  of  the  subject  is 

227 


so  unjust  and  unfair  that  its  perusal  simply  excites  resent- 
ment and  disgust.  Hampton  was  one  of  the  leading  spirits  in 
this  deplorable  enterprise,  and  himself  produced  the  evidence 
which  resulted  in  his  indictment  by  the  grand  jury  and  his 
conviction  by  the  trial  jury. 

The  writer  of  the  "history"  states  that  Hampton  was  con- 
victed on  the  same  kind  of  evidence  that  the  district  attorney 
had  pronounced  unworthy.  Here  again  he  falls  into  error.  If 
the  historian  was  ignorant  in  fact  in  the  premises,  nevertheless, 
if  he  had  desired  to  be  fair  in  the  matter,  he  could  have  easily 
ascertained  that  Hampton  had  voluntarily  gone  before  the 
grand  jury,  and  taken  the  stand  as  a  witness  before  the  trial 
jury;  that  he  was  warned  by  the  prosecuting  officer  in  each 
instance  that  he  was  not  expected  to  testify,  and  that  if  he  did 
so  voluntarily,  what  he  said  would  be  and  could  be  used 
against  him.  He  replied  in  substance  that  he  had  nothing  to 
conceal,  and  that  he  was  ready  to  tell  all  that  he  knew  about 
the  matter  under  investigation.  There  never  has  been,  under 
any  sytem  of  law  or  in  any  court  organized  for  the  trial  of 
criminals,  any  prohibition  against  convicting  a  man  of  crime 
upon  his  own  confession  or  testimony.  Hampton  was  con- 
victed and  sentenced  to  an  imprisonment  of  one  year  in  the 
penitentiary,  and  his  case  was  appealed  to  the  supreme  court 
of  the  Territory. 

I  may  well  close  the  reference  to  this  case  with  an  excerpt 
from  the  illuminating  opinion  of  the  court  in  affirming  the 
judgment,  delivered  by  Judge  Powers,  as  follows : 

"A  peculiar  state  of  facts  is  shown  by  the  record  in  this 
case.  It  would  seem  that  lewd  women  were  employed  to  open 
houses  of  ill-fame  in  the  city  of  Salt  Lake.  It  is  claimed  that 
men  who  had  not  sufficient  self-respect  or  morality  to  resist 
such  allurements  were  beguiled  therein,  and  that  the  unholy 
practices  with  the  women  were  watched  from  adjoining  rooms 
through  peep-holes  by  members  of  the  police  force.  It  is  in- 
sisted that  this  was  done  in  the  interest  of  virtue  and  morality. 
The  defendant,  Brigham  Y.  Hampton,  is  a  prominent  member 
of  the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ  of  Latter-day  Saints,  commonly 
known  as  the  Mormon  church,  and  this  fact  becomes  mater- 
ial in  considering  the  objection  to  the  panel  of  jurors  here- 
after referred  to.  He  has  held  many  positions  of  trust  in  Salt 
Lake  City,  and  at  the  time  of  his  conviction  he  was  the  col- 
lector of  license  of  that  city,  and  was  also  a  member  of  the 
police  force.  In  the  spring  of  1885  he,  or  some  one  connected 

228 


with  him,  conceived  the  idea  of  employing  prostitutes  to  do 
what  he  in  his  testimony,  terms  'detective  work.'  He  states 
that  he  had  observed  there  were  a  great  many  street-walkers 
in  this  city,  and  that  many  young  girls  were  being  led  from  the 
path  of  virtue.  He  seems  to  have  consecrated  himself  to  a 
great  work.  He  proposed  to  put  an  end  to  houses  of  ill-fame 
and  prostitution,  and  he  went  aboiirt  this  work  by  immediately 
opening  more  houses.  He  hired  his  own  prostitutes,  he  opened 
his  own  houses,  and  from  points  of  vantage  he  and  his  co- 
laborers  began  a  study  of  the  bestial  practices  that  occurred 
within  the  dens  of  infamy  which  he  had  established.  He  does 
not  appear  to  have  been  the  only  one  concerned  in  this  trans- 
action, but  he  and  a  man  named  Salmon  seem  to  have  been 
the  moving  spirits.  We  shall  not  deal  with  any  more  of  the 
details  than  we  are  compelled  to  do  in  determining  the  case ; 
but  this  does  not  and  should  ,not  prevent  us  from  expressing 
our  disapproval  of  the  conduct  of  the  defendant,  or  from  con- 
demning, as  the  highest  court  of  this  Territory,  the  wicked  and 
disgraceful  conspiracy  disclosed."  (4  Utah  Reports,  259). 

I  have  thus  dealt  with  some  of  the  most  prominent  features 
of  the  erroneous,  misleading  and  unfair  accounts  and  ac- 
companying criticism  contained  in  the  "History  of  Utah,"  not 
in  any  spirit  of  resentment,  or  with  the  inclination  to  revive 
any  of  the  bitterness  of  the  past,  but  because  I  deem  it  my 
duty  to  voice  this  protest  against  what  has  been  heretofore 
regarded  as  history,  when  in  fact  it  is  but  a  garbled  record  of 
events  made  for  the  purpose  of  defending  the  indefensible. 

C.  S.  VARIAN. 
Salt  Lake  City,  Utah,  April,  1914. 


In  addition  to  the  above,  Mr.  Varian  could  have  added 
the  following  quotation  from  Whitney's  history,  Vol.  Ill,  page 
413,  which  further  illustrates  its  character: 

"Between  midnight  and  daybreak,  on  September  13,  1885, 
the  residences  of  United  States  Attorney  Dickson,  Assistant 
United  States  Attorney  Varian,  and  United  States  Commis- 
sioner McKay,  were  visited  by  certain  individuals  armed  with 
improvised  grenades — slop  jars  filled  with  filth  (human  ex- 
crement), which  were  thrown  through  the  windows  and  shat- 
tered against  the  (inside)  walls  of  their  dwellings,  alarming 
the  sleeping  inmates,  damaging  furniture  and  other  property 
to  some  extent,  but  inflicting  no  personal  injury.  *  *  * 
As  a  matter  of  course,  the  affair  created  a  sensation,  and  efforts 
were  made  to  magnify  it  far  beyond  its  due  proportions.  It 
was  but  natural  that  the  three  officials,  knowing  their  unpop- 

229 


ularity  with  the  Mormons,  should  hold  them  responsible  for  the 
deed,  and  that  they  would  be  accused  of  it  must  have  been 
foreseen  by  the  perpetrators.  It  was  precisely  for  this  reason 
that  the  Mormons  denounced  the  imputation  of  guilt  on  the 
part  of  any  of  their  number.  It  was  difficult  for  them  to 
believe,  after  all  the  forbearance  they  had  shown  towards 
those  whom  they  deemed  their  oppressors,  that  they  had  any 
one  among  them  so  unwise — to  put  it  no  stronger — as  to  grati- 
fy malice,  personal  or  communical,  under  circumstances  that 
could  not  fail  to  cast  odium  upon  the  whole  people  and  injure 
instead  of  benefiting  their  cause.  That  they  had  something  to 
lose  and  nothing  to  gain  by  the  outrage  must  be  admitted. 
As  stated,  its  authors  were  never  discovered.  The  police  were 
unsuccessful' in  ferreting  out  their  identity.  The  Associated 
Press  agent,  in  his  telegraphed  account  of  the  affair,  said  that 
parties  of  Mormons  did  the  deed,  but  was  careless  enough  to 
add— 'No  clue  to  the  perpetrators.' '; 

In  the  quotation  above  Whitney,  by  intendment,  impli- 
cates the  Gentiles  and  acquits  the  members  of  his  church,  not- 
withstanding he  well  knew  that  the  unpopularity  of  the  offi- 
cers who  were  the  victims  of  that  atrocious  outrage  was  not 
caused  by  any  wrongful  act  committed  against  the  Mormons, 
but  simply  occurred  because  they  had  performed  their  official 
duties  by  a  vigorous,  faithful  and  efficient  enforcement  of  the 
acts  of  Congress  against  polygamic  crimes,  and  for  so  perform- 
ing their  official  duties  they  were  outraged — not  by  Gentiles 
striving  to  injure  the  Mormon  cause — but  by  some  vicious 
and  fanatical  members  of  the  church. 

The  foregoing  quotation  is  only  imitative  of  the  duplicity 
of  Brigham  Young  in  a  sermon  delivered  in  1863,  six  years 
after  the  perpetration  of  the  Mountain  Meadows  massacre 
wherein  he  said : 

"When  a  company  of  emigrants  were  traveling  on  the 
southern  route  to  California,  nearly  all  of  the  company  were 
destroyed  by  Indians.  The  unfortunate  affair  has  been  laid 
to  the  charge  of  the  whites.  *  *  *  I  told  Governor  Cum- 
mings  that  if  he  would  take  an  unprejudiced  judge  into  that 
district  where  that  horrid  affair  occurred,  I  would  pledge  my- 
self that  every  man  in  the  region  round  about  should  be  forth- 
coming, when  called  for,  to  be  condemned  or  acquitted. 
*  *  *  But  to  this  day  they  have  not  touched  the  matter 
for  fear  the  Mormons  will  be  acquitted  of  the  charge  of  hav- 
ing a  hand  in  it,  and  our  enemies  would  be  deprived  of  a  favor- 
ite topic  to  talk  about  when  urging  hostilities  against  us — 'the 

230 


Mountain  Meadows  massacre!  only  to  think  of  the   Mountain 
Meadows  massacre!'  ' 

Respecting  the  murder  of  Doctor  Robinson,  he  in  sub- 
stance, as  before  shown,  stated  that  he  hoped  the  murderers 
would  be  discovered,  for  it  would  show  the  wickedness  of  their 
own  clique  who  planned  the  deed  intending  that  it  should  be 
attributed  to  the  Mormons,  on  account  of  the  doctor  having 
had  difficulty  with  the  Mormon  authorities.  Of  the  murder  of 
Brassfield,  in  a  sermon  he  said:  "  *  *  *  Whether  he  was 
killed  by  some  one  who  had  made  a  catspaw  of  him  in  his  ill- 
starred  operations,  or  by  some  one  of  his  acquaintances  to 
settle  a  grudge,  thinking  of  course  it  would  be  laid  upon 
the  Mormons,  is  yet  to  be  learned." 


231 


CONCLUSION. 

In  these  pages  I  have  shown  some  of  the  radical  evils  for  the 
correction  of  which  the  Liberal  party  in  Utah  was  organized ;  also 
the  measures  originated  and  supported  by  its  members  to  accom- 
plish that  purpose.  The  exceptionally  stringent  acts  of  Congress 
were  rendered  necessary  by  the  pugnacity  with  which  the  hier- 
archy of  the  Mormon  church  persisted  in  maintaining  its  ob- 
noxious system,  and  in  defeating  the  execution  of  the  laws 
framed  for  punishment  of  polygamists  and  perpetrators  of  a 
certain  class  of  homicides.  Such  acts,  though  seemingly  very 
rigorous,  were  the  only  available  means  by  which  the  evils 
existing  in  Utah  could  be  eradicated.  The  priesthood,  there- 
fore, and  not  the  Liberal  party,  is  responsible  for  any  hard- 
ships which  its  adherents  may  have  suffered  from  those 
radical  measures.  The  Gentiles  in  the  Territory  would  have 
shown  themselves  unworthy  of  American  citizenship  had 
they  failed  to  organize  and  make  a  united  effort  to  Ameri- 
canize Utah.  The  purpose  in  organizing  the  Liberal  party 
was  to  free  the  masses  of  the  Mormon  people  from  the  arbitrary 
control  by  the  priesthood  of  temporal  and  political  affairs,  and  not 
to  persecute  or  injure  them. 

Through  the  persistent  efforts  of  that  party,  the  change 
which  occurred  upon  the  issuance  of  the  Woodruff  manifesto  and 
the  admission  of  the  Territory  into  the  Union  as  a  State,  under 
the  pledge  given  by  the  authorities  of  the  church,  was  brought 
about.  This  change  was  an  unqualified  blessing  to  the  people. 
Since  that  time  Mormons  have  ceased  to  be  Ishmaelites,  and  we 
no  longer  hear  the  proverbial  expression,  "Those  who  are  not  for 
us  are  against  us."  Both  social  and  business  relations  in  the  State 
have  been  greatly  improved.  There  no  longer  exists  such  bitter 
antagonism  as  was  prevalent  in  former  days,  and,  if  I  may  be 
pardoned  the  personal  reference,  I  will  say  that  my  election  as  a 
member  of  the  supreme  court  of  the  State  is  conclusive  evidence 
that  this  is  true. 

I  venture  to  say  that  no  persons,  except  extremely  fanatical 
ones,  would  today  favor  such  a  system  as  was  established  and 
maintained  for  many  years  in  the  Territory  by  the  priesthood 

232 


of  the  Mormon  church.  While  the  political  power  of  the  priest- 
hood is  not  so  absolute  in  the  State  as  it  was  in  the  Territory,  it 
still  has  the  power  to  elect  or  defeat  any  party  ticket,  or  candidate 
for  office,  except  in  a  few  cities  in  which  there  is  a  majority  of 
Gentile  electors.  In  Idaho  and  in  each  of  the  other  states 
where  large  Mormon  settlements  exist,  there  are  enough  Mormon 
electors  whose  votes  are  sufficient  to  secure  the  success  of  any 
one  of  the  political  parties  in  favor  of  which  they  may  be  cast  at 
any  general  election.  As  those  electors  are  pledged  by  their  oath- 
bound  church  covenants  to  obey  the  priesthood  in  all  matters,  the 
political  power  of  the  first  presidency  of  the  Mormon  church  is 
as  predominant  over  members  of  the  Mormon  church  in  those 
states  as  it  is  over  the  members  of  that  church  in  Utah.  That 
power  can  only  be  annulled  in  Utah  as  elsewhere  by  the  increas- 
ing immigration  of  Gentiles,  and  the  liberalization  of  the  rising 
generation  of  the  Mormons.  I  hope  that  in  future  the  high  of- 
ficials of  the  Mormon  church  will  abstain  from  performing  those 
acts  which  show  the  priesthood  is  still  desirous  of  controlling 
elections.  It  was  this  policy  which  caused  the  organization  of  the 
American  party.  If  this  be  done,  then  the  unfortunate  local  is- 
sues existing  in  several  cities  of  the  State  will  terminate,  and 
thereafter  there  will  be  no  political  party  division  among  the 
people  except  on  national  party  lines,  "a  consummation  devoutly 
to  be  wished." 

Beyond  a  question  many  plural  marriages  have  occurred 
in  the  State  since  the  promulgation  of  the  manifesto,  yet  none  of 
the  guilty  parties  have  been  arrested  by  the  civil  authorities  and 
only  about  six  have  been  disciplined  by  the  church  authorities, 
who  are  undubitably  aware  of  the  guilt  of  the  persons  who  have 
contracted  such  unlawful  alliances.  The  members  of  the  high 
priesthood  could  have  procured  the  arrest  and  punishment  of  all 
the  guilty  parties  had  they  so  desired.  Their  failure  to  do  so,  or 
even  to  have  them  disciplined  by  the  church,  indicates  in  no  un- 
certain degree  a  connivance  on  their  part.  In  the  majority  report 
of  the  Senate  committee  on  the  Smoot  case,  Vol.  IV,  page  476,  of 
the  published  report  of  the  proceedings  states : 

"A  sufficient  number  of  specific  instances  of  the  taking  of 
plural  wives  since  the  manifesto  of  1890,  so-called,  have  been 
shown  by  the  evidence  as  having  taken  place  among  officers  of  the 
Mormon  church  to  demonstrate  the  fact  that  the  leaders  of  this 
church,  the  first  presidency  and  the  twelve  apostles,  connive  at 

233 


the  practice  of  taking  plural  wives,  and  have  done  so  ever  since 
the  manifesto  was  issued,  and  which  purports  to  put  an  end  to  the 
practice." 

The  law  against  polygamy  will  not  be  enforced  in  Utah  so 
long  as  the  priesthood  retains  its  present  power,  therefore  Con- 
gress should  be  authorized  by  an  amendment  of  the  constitution 
of  the  United  States  to  legislate  upon  the  subject  of  polygamy. 

While  a  notable  improvement  of  the  conditions  in  Utah  has 
come  about,  the  tenets  of  the  Mormon  church  have  not  been 
changed.  Its  financial  system  is  still  a  menace,  and  the  alleged 
revelation  of  polygmay  has  not  been  annulled,  nor  has  the  practice 
of  polygamy  been  positively  prohibited.  The  Woodruff  manifesto 
neither  abolished  that  revelation  nor  forbade  the  practice  of  poly- 
gamy. In  it,  Woodruff  only  advises  the  Latter-day  Saints  to  re- 
frain from  contracting  plural  marriages,  as  appears  from  the  fol- 
lowing quotation  therefrom: 

"To  Whom  It  May  Concern:  *  *  *  Inasmuch 
as  laws  have  been  enacted  by  Congress  forbidding  plural  mar- 
riage, which  laws  have  been  pronounced  constitutional  by  the 
court  of  last  resort,  I  hereby  declare  my  intention  to  submit  to 
those  laws  and  to  use  my  influence  with  the  members  of  the 
church  over  which  I  preside  to  have  them  do  likewise.  *  *  * 
And  I  now  publicly  declare  that  my  advice  to  the  Latter-day 
Saints  is  to  refrain  from  contracting  any  marriages  forbidden  by 
the  laws  of  the  land." 

President  Woodruff,  Joseph  F.  Smith,  now  the  president  of 
the  Mormon  church,  and  other  high  officials  of  that  church,  stated 
under  oath,  at  a  hearing  had  before  a  master  in  chancery  appointed 
by  the  supreme  court  of  Utah,  that  the  manifesto  applied  to  un- 
lawful cohabitation  as  well  as  to  polygamy.  (See  Appendix.) 
Yet  Joseph  F.  Smith,  in  his  testimony  before  the  Senate  committee 
in  the  Smoot  case,  testified  that  he  had  wilfully  violated  the  law 
against  unlawful  cohabitation.  The  following  is  a  quotation  from 
his  testimony,  Vol.  I,  page  133  of  the  printed  report  of  the  Smoot 
case: 

"I  have  cohabited  with  my  wives,  not  openly,  that  is — not 
in  a  manner  that  I  thought  would  be  offensive  to  my  neighbors ; 
they  have  borne  me  children  since  1890.  I  have  done  it  knowing 
I  am  amenable  to  the  law." 

He  further  stated  that  he  had  five  wives  who  had  borne 
him  eleven  children  since  1890,  each  wife  having  given  birth  to  one 

234 


or  two  of  those  children.  The  law  against  unlawful  cohabitation 
has  not  been  and  is  not  at  present  being  obeyed,  and  as  before 
shown,  a  large  number  of  known  plural  marriages  have  been 
formed  since  the  manifesto  and  the  admission  of  Utah  as  a  State. 
It  is  clear  from  the  language  of  the  manifesto  that  the  laws  which 
Woodruff  advised  the  Latter-day  Saints  to  obey  were  those  passed 
by  Congress  relative  to  polygamy  and  unlawful  cohabitation,  and 
which  were  held  by  the  United  States  supreme  court  to  be  con- 
stitutional. Upon  the  admission  of  Utah  as  a  State,  those  laws  of 
Congress  ceased  to  have  any  force  in  the  new  State.  Upon  such 
admission  there  ceased  to  be  any  law  in  Utah  to  which  the  mani- 
festo applied,  and  therefore  it  became  nugatory.  In  view  of  that 
fact,  the  number  of  known  plural  marriages  which  have  occurred 
since  the  manifesto  and  the  admission  of  the  Territory  into  the 
Union,  the  failure  of  the  prosecuting  officers  of  the  State  to  ap- 
prehend the  offenders,  and  the  quiescence  of  the  high  priesthood 
respecting  the  guilty  parties,  the  Congress  of  the  United  States 
should  be  authorized  to  legislate  upon  the  subject  of  polygamy. 

While  it  is  inconsistent  with  American  citizenship  for  mem- 
bers of  the  Mormon  church  to  enter  into  oath-bound  obligations 
to  obey  the  Mormon  priesthood  in  temporal  affairs,  yet  there  is 
no  legal  remedy  for  the  evil;  and  it  will  continue  to  exist  until 
there  arises,  among  the  members  of  that  church,  a  general  senti- 
ment against  the  practice,  or  rather,  condition  of  servitude. 

Joseph  F.  Smith,  in  his  examination  in  the  Smoot  case  (see 
Vol.  I,  page  192,  of  the  official  report  of  that  proceeding),  testi- 
fied as  follows : 

"Here  is  Aunt  Bathsheba  Smith,  who  received  her  endow- 
ments in  Nauvoo  as  they  are  now  given  in  the  temples.  She  is 
a  living  witness,  and,  if  necessary,  she  will  tell  us  that  she  received 
those  privileges  under  the  direction  of  Joseph  Smith.  Opponents 
say  that  Brigham  Young  established  the  endowments,  and  also 
plural  marriage,  but  here  is  a  witness  who  knows  better." 

From  the  testimony  of  this  person  it  would  appear  that  the 
endowment  ceremonies  have  not  been  changed,  and  it  follows  that 
the  oath-bound  penal  covenants  are  still  being  entered  into  by 
those  who  receive  their  endowments. 

In  the  naturalization  case  before  mentioned,  Henry  W.  Law- 
rence, at  present  one  of  the  five  Commissioners  governing  Salt 
Lake  City,  and  whose  standing  is  as  high  as  that  of  any  man  in 
Utah,  testified  that  those  who  received  their  endowment  covenant 

235 


to  avenge  the  blood  of  the  prophets,  Joseph  and  Hyrum  Smith 
(who  have  sealed  their  testimony  with  their  blood),  were  com- 
manded to  perpetuate  this  grewsome  horror  by  teaching  this 
doctrine  to  their  children  and  their  children's  children  unto  the 
third  and  fourth  generation,  and  to  obey  the  priesthood  in  all 
things-. 
*##**##**#  *  =:= 

In  conclusion,  it  is  indeed  regrettable,  and  even  humiliating, 
to  all  who  have  endeavored  to  advance  the  good  name  of  Utah  and 
to  place  her  in  a  position  of  equality  in  the  sisterhood  of  states, 
to  record  that  the  solemn  pledges  made  to  the  federal  government 
by  the  Mormon  priesthood  for  the  purpose  of  procuring  general 
amnesty,  the  restoration  of  escheated  church  property  and  the  ad- 
mission of  the  Territory  as  a  State,  have  not  been  fulfilled. 

To  the  unprejudiced  reader,  the  publication  of  these  Reminis- 
cences will,  I  trust,  appear  justifiable  for  the  reasons  stated  in  my 
preface.  It  is  furthest  from  my  purpose  to  herein  reopen  old 
sores,  or  to  revive  the  old  animosities  which  are  happily  fast  dying 
out,  but,  in  the  absence  of  any  authentic  treatise  on  the  true  his- 
tory of  many  important  events  in  that  "storm  and  stress"  period 
of  our  State,  I  have  deemed  it  my  duty  to  the  present  as  well  as 
to  future  generations  to  relate  the  undeniable  facts  pertaining 
to  those  events,  and  thus  to  refute  the  calumnious  slanders  cast 
upon  the  names  of  men  who,  animated  by  purely  disinterested  mo- 
tives, have  striven  to  correct  the  evils  existing  when  Utah  was  a 
Territory,  some  of  which  are  herein  disclosed. 

An  abridged  history  of  Utah  has  been  written  by  Whitney 
which  I  am  informed  has  been  adopted  as  a  text-book  in  the 
schools  outside  of  Salt  Lake  City.  The  same  guile  which  char- 
acterizes Whitney's  larger  history  of  Utah  is  present  in  his  abridg- 
ment. The  use  as  a  text-book  of  the  latter  in  the  public  schools 
is  well  calculated  to  create  wrong  impressions  in  the  minds  of  the 
pupils  respecting  past  occurrences  in  Utah.  The  action  of  Whit- 
ney in  making  false  statements,  his  failure  to  state  facts  which 
were  indispensable  in  a  true  history,  his  imputation  of  improper 
motives  to  those  who  opposed  the  hierarchy  of  Utah  and  strove  to 
correct  prevalent  abuses,  uwas  as  dishonest  as  it  was  despicable." 


236 


APPENDIX 


HOW  AMNESTY  WAS  OBTAINED. 

Below  is  found  the  petition  through  which  universal 
amnesty  was  obtained  for  offenders  under  the  Edmunds  law. 
It  was  signed  by  the  first  presidency  of  the  Mormon  church, 
and  by  all  the  apostles.  Then  it  was  submitted  to  Governor 
Thomas,  Judge  Zane,  and  other  prominent  men  who  had 
been  pronounced  in  their  insistence  that  the  laws  should  be 
obeyed  in  Utah,  and  they  in  turn  certified  to  the  full  belief 
that  the  petition  was  sincere,  and  that  if  amnesty  should  be 
granted  there  would  be  no  violation  of  faith. 

'To  the  President  of  the  United  States : 

"We,  the  First  Presidency  and  Apostles  of  the  Church  of 
Jesus  Christ  of  Latter-day  Saints,  beg  respectfully  to  repre- 
sent to  your  Excellency  the  following  facts : 

"We  formerly  taught  to  our  people  that  polygamy  or 
celestial  marriage,  as  commanded  by  God  through  Joseph 
Smith,  was  right;  that  it  was  a  necessity  to  man's  highest 
exaltation  in  the  life  to  come. 

"That  doctrine  was  publicly  promulgated  by  our  presi- 
dent, the  late  Brigham  Young,  forty  years  ago  and  was  steadily 
taught  and  impressed  upon  the  Latter-day  Saints  up  to 
September,  1890.  Our  people  are  devout  and  sincere,  and 
they  accepted  the  doctrine,  and  many  personally  embraced 
and  practiced  polygamy. 

"When  the  Government  sought  to  stamp  the  practice  out, 
our  people,  almost  without  exception,  remained  firm,  for  they, 
while  having  no  desire  to  oppose  the  Government  in  anything, 
still  felt  that  their  lives  and  their  honor  as  men  was  pledged 
to  a  vindication  of  their  creed,  and  that  their  duty  to  those 
whose  lives  were  a  part  of  their  own  was  a  paramount  one, 
to  fulfill  which  they  had  no  right  to  count  anything,  not  even 
their  own  lives,  as  standing  in  the  way. 

"Following  this  conviction,  hundreds  endured  arrest,  trial, 
fine  and  imprisonment,  and  the  immeasurable  suffering  borne 
by  the  faithful  people  no  language  can  describe.  That  suffer- 
ing in  abated  form  still  continues. 

"More,  the  Government  added  disfranchisement  to  its 
other  punishments  for  those  who  clung  to  their  faith  and 
fulfilled  its  covenants. 

237 


"According  to  our  creed,  the  head  of  our  church  received 
from  time  to  time  revelations  for  the  religious  guidance  of 
his  people.  In  September,  1890,  the  present  head  of  the  church 
in  anguish  and  prayer  cried  to  God  for  help  for  his  flock,  and 
received  permission  to  advise  the  members  of  the  Church  of 
Jesus  Christ  of  Latter-day  Saints  that  the  law  commanding 
polygamy  was  henceforth  suspended. 

"At  the  great  semi-annual  Conference  which  was  held 
a  few  days  later  this  was  submitted  to  the  people — numbering 
many  thousands  and  representing  every  community  of  the 
people  in  Utah — and  was  by  them  in  the  most  solemn  manner 
accepted  as  the  future  rule  of  their  lives. 

"They  have  been  faithful  to  the  covenant  made  that  day. 

"At  the  late  October  Conference,  after  a  year  had  passed 
by,  the  matter  was  once  more  submitted  to  the  thousands  of 
people  gathered  together,  and  they  again  in  the  most  potential 
manner  ratified  the  solemn  covenant. 

"This  being  the  true  situation,  and  believing  that  the  ob- 
ject of  this  Government  was  simply  the  vindication  of  its  own 
authority  and  to  compel  obedience  to  the  laws,  and  that  it 
takes  no  pleasure  in  persecution,  we  respectfully  pray  that 
full  amnesty  may  be  extended  to  all  who  are  under  disabil- 
ities because  of  the  operation  of  the  so-called  Edmunds- 
Tucker  law. 

"Our  people  are  scattered ;  homes  are  made  desolate ; 
many  are  still  imprisoned;  others  are  banished  or  in  hiding. 

"Our  hearts  bleed  for  these.  In  the  past  they  followed 
our  counsels,  and  while  they  are  thus  afflicted  our  souls  are 
in  sackcloth  and  ashes. 

"We  believe  there  is  nowhere  in  the  Union  a  more  loyal 
people  than  the  Latter-day  Saints.  They  know  no  other  coun- 
try except  this ;  they  expect  to  live  and  die  on  this  soil. 

"When  the  men  of  the  South  who  were  in  rebellion  against 
the  government  in  1865  threw  down  their  arms  and  asked 
for  recognition  along  the  old  lines  of  citizenship,  the  Govern- 
ment hastened  to  grant  their  prayer. 

"To  be  at  peace  with  the  Government  and  in  harmony 
with  their  fellow-citizens  who  are  not  of  their  faith,  and  to 
share  in  the  confidence  of  the  Government  and  people,  our 
people  have  voluntarily  put  aside  something  which  all  their 
lives  they  have  believed  to  be  a  sacred  principle. 

"Have  they  not  the  right  to  ask  for  such  clemency  as 
comes  when  the  claims  of  both  law  and  justice  have  been 
fully  liquidated? 

"As  shepherds  of  a  patient  and  suffering  people,  we  ask 
amnesty  for  them,  and  pledge  our  faith  and  honor  for  their 
future. 

"And  your  petitioners  will  ever  pray. 

"Salt  Lake  City,  December,  1891." 

238 


PRESIDENT  HARRISON'S  PROCLAMATION. 

Washington,  D.  C,  Jan.  4,  1893. 

Whereas,  Congress,  by  a  statute  approved  March  22,  1882, 
and  by  statutes  in  furtherance  and  amendment  thereto,  de- 
fined the  crimes  of  bigamy,  polygamy,  and  unlawful  cohabita- 
tion in  the  territories  and  other  places  within  the  exclusive 
jurisdiction  of  the  United  States,  and  prescribed  a  penalty 
for  such  crimes;  and  ' 

Whereas,  on  or  about  the  6th  day  of  October,  1890,  the 
Church  of  Latter-day  Saints,  commonly  known  as  the  "Mor- 
mon" church,  through  its  president,  issued  a  manifesto  pro- 
claiming the  purpose  of  said  church  no  longer  to  sanction 
the  practice  of  polygamous  marriages  and  calling  upon  all 
members  and  adherents  of  said  church  to  obey  the  laws  of  the 
United  States  in  reference  to  said  subject-matter;  and 

"Whereas,  it  is  represented  that  since  the  date  of  said 
declaration  the  members  and  adherents  of  said  church  gener- 
ally obeyed  said  laws  and  abstained  from  plural  marriages  and 
polygamous  cohabitation ;  and 

Whereas,  by  a  petition  dated  December  19,  1891,  the 
officials  of  said  church,  pledging  the  membership  thereof  to 
the  faithful  obeyance  of  the  laws  against  plural  marriages  and 
unlawful  cohabitation,  applied  to  me  to  grant  amnesty  for 
past  offenses  against  said  laws,  which  request  a  very  large 
number  of  influential  non-Mormons  resident  of  territories,  also 
strongly  urged ;  and 

Whereas,  the  Utah  Commissioners  in  their  report  bearing 
date  of  September  15,  1892,  recommended  that  said  petition 
be  granted,  and  said  amnesty  proclaimed  under  the  proper 
conditions  as  to  the  future  observance  of  the  law  with  a  view 
to  the  encouragement  of  those  now  disposed  to  become  law- 
abiding  citizens ;  and 

Whereas,  during  the  past  two  years  such  amnesty  has 
been  granted  individual  applicants  in  a  very  large  number  of 
cases,  conditioned  upon  the  faithful  observance  of  the  laws 
of  the  United  States  against  unlawful  cohabitation,  and  there 
are  now  pending  many  more  such  applications ; 

Now,  therefore,  I,  Benjamin  Harrison,  President  of  the 
United  States,  by  virtue  of  the  powers  in  me  vested,  do  hereby 
declare  and  grant  full  amnesty  and  pardon  to  all  persons  liable 
to  the  penalties  of  said  act,  by  reason  of  unlawful  cohabitation 
under  the  color  of  polygamous  or  plural  marriage,  who  since 
November  1,  1890,  have  abstained  from  such  unlawful  co- 
habitation, but  upon  the  express  condition  that  they  shall  in 
future  obey  the  laws  of  the  United  States  hereinbefore  named, 
and  not  otherwise.  Those  who  shall  fail  to  avail  themselves  of 
the  clemency  hereby  offered  will  be  vigorously  prosecuted. 

BENJAMIN  HARRISON. 
By  The  President : 

JOHN  W.  FOSTER,  Secretary  of  State. 

239 


PRESIDENT  CLEVELAND'S  PROCLAMATION. 


Washington,  D.  C,  September  25th,  1894. 

Whereas,  Congress,  by  statute  approved  March  22,  1882, 
and  by  statutes  in  furtherance  and  amendment  thereof,  de- 
fined the  crimes  of  bigamy,  polygamy,  and  unlawful  cohabita- 
tion in  the  territories  and  other  places  within  the  exclusive 
jurisdiction  of  the  United  States,  and  prescribed  the  penalties 
for  such  crimes,  and 

Whereas,  on  or  about  the  6th  day  of  October,  1890,  the 
Church  of  the  Latter-day  Saints,  commonly  known  as  the 
"Mormon"  church,  through  its  president,  issued  a  manifesto 
proclaiming  the  purposes  of  said  church  no  longer  to  sanction 
the  practice  of  polygamous  marriages,  and  calling  upon  all 
members  and  adherents  of  said  church  to  obey  said  laws  of 
the  United  States  in  reference  to  said  subject-matter;  and 

Whereas,  on  the  4th  day  of  January,  A.  D.  1893,  Benjamin 
Harrison,  then  President  of  the  United  States,  did  declare  and 
grant  full  pardon  and  amnesty  to  certain  offenders  under  said 
acts  upon  condition  of  future  obedience  to  their  requirements, 
as  is  fully  set  forth  in  said  proclamation  of  amnesty  and  par- 
don, and 

Whereas,  upon  the  evidence  now  furnished  me  I  am  satis- 
fied the  members  and  adherents  of  said  church  generally  ab- 
stain from  plural  marriages  and  polygamous  cohabitation,  and 
are  now  living  in  obedience  to  the  laws,  and  the  time  has 
now  arrived  when  the  interests  of  public  justice  and  morality 
will  be  promoted  by  the  granting  of  amnesty  and  pardon  to 
all  such  offenders  as  complied  with  the  conditions  of  said 
proclamation  including  such  of  said  offenders  as  have  been 
convicted  under  the  provisions  of  said  act ; 

Now,  therefore,  I,  Grover  Cleveland,  President  of  the 
United  States,  by  virtue  of  the  powers  in  me  vested,  do 
hereby  declare  and  grant  a  full  amnesty  and  pardon  to  all 
persons  who  have  in  violation  of  said  acts  committed  either 
of  the  offenses  of  polygamy,  adultery,  or  unlawful  cohabita- 
tion, under  the  color  of  polygamous  or  plural  marriage,  and 
who,  having  been  convicted  of  violation  of  said  act,  are  now 
suffering  deprivation  of  civil  rights  in  consequence  of  the 
same,  excepting  persons  as  have  not  complied  with  the  condi- 
tions contained  in  said  executive  proclamation  of  January  4, 
1893. 

GROVER  CLEVELAND. 
By  the  President : 

RICHARD  C.  OLNEY,  Secretary  of  State. 

240 


CONDITION  OF  RESTORATION. 

Congress  gave  back  escheated  property  because  practices 
in  violation  of  laws  were  understood  to  be  stopped. 

When  Congress,  in  1893,  gave  back  to  the  Mormon  church 
the  personal  property  and  money  held  by  Receiver  Henry  W. 
Lawrence,  it  was  with  the  evident  understanding  that  all 
polygamous  practices  in  Utah  had  been  abandoned.  This 
is  shown  clearly  by  the  joint  resolution  of  Congress  restoring 
the  property,  which  follows : 

"Joint  Resolution  No.  11,  providing  for  the  disposition  of 
certain  personal  property  and  money  now  in  the  hands  of  a 
Receiver  of  the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ  of  Latter-day  Saints, 
appointed  by  the  Supreme  Court  of  Utah,  and  authorizing  its 
application  to  the  charitable  purposes  of  said  church. 

"Whereas,  the  Corporation  of  the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ 
of  Latter-day  Saints  was  dissolved  by  act  of  Congress  of 
March  3,  1887,  and 

"Whereas,  the  personal  property  and  money  belonging 
to  said  corporation  is  now  in  the  hands  of  a  receiver  appointed 
by  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  Territory  of  Utah ;  and 

"Whereas,  according  to  a  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court 
of  the  United  States,  the  said  property,  in  absence  of  other 
disposition  by  act  of  Congress,  is  subject  to  be  applied  to  such 
charitable  uses,  lawful  in  their  nature,  as  may  most  nearly 
correspond  to  the  purposes  which  said  property  was  originally 
destined ;  and 

"Whereas,  said  property  is  the  result  of  contribution  and 
donations  made  by  members  of  said  church,  and  was  designed 
to  be  devoted  to  the  charitable  uses  thereof  under  the  direction 
and  control  of  the  First  Presidency  of  said  church ;  and 

"Whereas,  said  church  has  discontinued  the  practice  of 
polygamy,  and  no  longer  encourages  or  gives  countenance  in 
any  manner  to  practices  in  violation  of  law,  or  contrary  to  good 
morals,  or  public  policy;  and  if  the  said  personal  property  is 
restored  to  the  said  church  it  will  not  be  devoted  to  any  such 
unlawful  purpose;  therefore 

"Be  it  resolved,  by  the  Senate rrand4f<5uS&  of  Representa- 
tives of  the  United  States  of  America,  in  Congress  assembled, 
that  the  said  personal  property  and  money  now  in  the  hands 
of  such  receiver,  not  arising  from  the  sale  or  rents  of  real 
estate  since  March  3,  1887,  be,  and  the  same  is  hereby  re- 
stored to  the  said  Church  of  Jesus  Christ  of  Latter-day  Saints, 
to  be  applied  under  the  direction  and  control  of  the  First 

241 


Presidency  of  said  church  to  the  charitable  purposes  and  uses 
thereof,  that  is  to  say:  For  the  payment  of  the  debts  for 
which  said  church  is  legally  or  equitably  liable,  for  the  relief 
of  the  poor  and  distressed  members  of  said  church,  for  the 
education  of  the  children  of  said  members,  and  for  the  build- 
ing and  repair  of  houses  of  worship  for  the  use  of  said  church, 
but  in  which  the  rightfulness  of  the  practice  of  polygamy  shall 
not  be  inculcated.  And  the  said  receiver,  after  deducting  the 
expenses  of  his  receivership,  under  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
Territory  of  Utah,  is  hereby  required  to  deliver  the  said 
property  and  money  to  the  persons  now  constituting  the  Presi- 
dency of  said  church,  or  to  such  person  or  persons  as  they  may 
designate,  to  be  held  and  applied  generally  to  the  charitable 
uses  and  purposes  of  said  church  as  aforesaid. 
"Approved  October  25,  1893." 


242 


THE  ANTI-POLYGAMY  MANIFESTO. 

The  following  is  the  Manifesto  of  President  Wilford 
Woodruff,  of  the  Mormon  church,  relative  to  polygamy,  issued 

September  24,  1890: 

To  Whom  it  May  Concern :  Press  dispatches  having  been 
sent  for  political  purposes  from  Salt  Lake  City,  which  have 
been  widely  published,  to  the  effect  that  the  Utah  Commission 
in  their  recent  report  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  allege 
that  plural  marriages  are  still  being  solemnized,  and  that 
forty  or  more  such  marriages  have  been  contracted  in  Utah 
since  last  June,  or  during  the  past  year;  also  that  in  public 
discourses  the  leaders  of  the  church  have  taught,  encouraged 
and  urged  the  continuance  of  the  practice  of  polygamy; 

"I  therefore,  as  President  of  the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ 
of  Latter-day  Saints,  do  hereby,  in  the  most  solemn  manner 
declare  that  these  charges  are  false.  We  are  not  teaching 
polygamy,  or  plural  marriage,  nor  permitting  any  person  to 
enter  into  its  practice,  and  I  deny  that  either  forty  or  any 
other  number  of  plural  marriages  have  during  that  period 
been  solemnized  in  our  temple,  or  in  any  other  place  in  the 
Territory. 

"One  case  has  been  reported  in  which  the  parties  alleged 
that  the  marriage  was  performed  in  the  Endowment  House 
in  Salt  Lake  City  in  the  spring  of  1889,  but  I  have  not  been 
able  to  learn  who  performed  the  ceremony ;  whatever  was  done 
in  this  manner  was  without  my  knowledge.  In  consequence 
of  this  alleged  occurrence,  the  Endowment  House  was  by  my 
instruction  taken  down  without  delay. 

"Inasmuch  as  laws  have  been  enacted  by  Congress  for- 
bidding plural  marriage,  which  laws  have  been  pronounced 
constitutional  by  the  court  of  last  resort,  I  hereby  declare  my 
intention  to  submit  to  those  laws  and  to  use  my  influence  with 
the  members  of  the  church  over  which  I  preside  to  have  them 
do  likewise. 

"There  is  nothing  in  my  teachings  to  the  church  or  in 
those  of  my  associates,  during  the  time  specified,  which  can 
reasonably  be  construed  to  inculcate  or  encourage  polygamy, 
and  when  any  Elder  of  the  church  has  used  language  which 
appeared  to  convey  any  such  teaching  he  has  been  promptly 
reproved.  And  I  now  publicly  declare  that  my  advice  to  the 
Latter-day  Saints  is  to  refrain  from  contracting  any  marriage 
forbidden  by  the  law  of  the  land. 

WILFORD  WOODRUFF, 
"President  of  the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ  of  Latter-day  Saints. 

243 


The  foregoing  was  read  on  October  4,  1890,  to  the 
Mormon  Conference  then  in  session,  and  Lorenzo  Snow  there- 
upon offered  the  following,  which  was  sustained  unanimously : 

"I  move  that,  recognizing  Wilford  Woodruff  as  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ  of  Latter-day  Saints,  and 
the  only  man  on  the  earth  at  the  present  time  who  holds  the 
keys  of  the  sealing  ordinances,  we  consider  him  fully  author- 
ized by  virtue  of  his  position  to  issue  the  Manifesto  which  has 
been  read  in  our  hearing  and  which  is  dated  September  24, 
1890,  and  that,  as  a  church  in  General  Conference  assembled, 
we  accept  his  declaration  concerning  plural  marriage  as  author- 
itative and  binding." 


244 


WHAT  THE  CHURCH  LEADERS  PROMISED. 

They  State  Under  Oath  the  the  Manifesto  was  Meant  to  Stop 
Unlawful  Cohabitation  as  well  as  Polygamous  Marriages. 

After  the  seizure  by  the  United  States  government  of  the 
real  estate  and  personal  property  belonging  to  the  Mormon 
church  in  1891,  Judge  C.  F.  Loofbourow  of  Salt  Lake  City  was 
appointed  a  master  in  chancery  by  the  supreme  court  of  the 
Territory  to  take  testimony  and  report  as  to  the  most  advan- 
tageous disposition  of  the  money  then  in  the  hands  of  Receiver 
Henry  W.  Lawrence.  At  the  hearing,  which  was  held  before 
Master  Loofbourow  on  October  19  and  20,  1891,  a  number  of 
prominent  church  officials  testified  with  respect  to  the  sources 
from  which  the  fund  had  been  derived,  as  well  as  to  the  dis- 
position which  had  theretofore  been  made  of  it.  Among  the 
witnesses  who  testified  at  this  hearing  were  Presidents  Wil- 
ford  Woodruff,  George  Q.  Cannon  and  Joseph  F.  Smith, 
Apostles  Lorenzo  Snow,  Anthon  H.  Lund  and  others.  Dur- 
ing the  examination,  Presidents  Woodruff,  Cannon  and  Smith, 
and  Apostles  Snow  and  Lund  were  subjected  to  a  searching 
cross-examination  by  United  States  Attorney  C.  S.  Varian 
with  respect  to  the  exact  meaning  of  President  Woodruff's 
manifesto  suspending  polygamy,  and  particularly  with  respect 
to  whether  or  not  the  manifesto  referred  to  polygamous  rela- 
tions already  formed  with  the  same  force  that  it  referred  to 
and  controlled  the  entering  into  of  polygamous  relations  there- 
after. 

As  the  witnesses  were  all  under  oath,  and  the  examina- 
tion was  a  most  thorough  one,  the  following  extracts  from  the 
testimony  as  given  by  the  gentlemen  at  that  time,  upon  the 
scope  of  the  manifesto  and  its  real  meaning,  will  be  read  with 
interest.  The  manifesto  was  issued  the  year  before. 

The  government  was  represented  upon  the  hearing  by 
United  States  Attorney  Varian  and  Joseph  L.  Rawlins,  the 
receiver  by  John  A.  Marshall,  and  the  church  by  Franklin  S. 
Richards,  W.  H.  Dickson  and  Le  Grand  Young. 


245 


PRESIDENT  WOODRUFF'S  TESTIMONY. 

By  C.  S.  Varian : 

Q.  Did  you  intend  to  confine  this  declaration  (the  man- 
ifesto) solely  to  the  forming  of  new  relations  by  entering  into 
new  marriages?  A.  I  don't  know  that  I  understand  the  ques- 
tion. 

O.  Did  you  intend  to  confine  your  declaration  and  advice 
to  the  church  solely  to  the  question  of  forming  new  marriages, 
without  reference  to  those  that  were  existing — plural  mar- 
riages? A.  The  intention  of  the  proclamation  was  to  obey  the 
law  myself — all  the  laws  of  the  land  on  that  subject,  and  ex- 
pecting the  church  would  do  the  same. 

Q.  Let  me  read  the  language,  and  you  will  understand  me, 
perhaps,  better:  "Inasmuch  as  laws  have  been  enacted  by 
Congress  forbidding  plural  marriages,  I  hereby  declare,"  etc. 
Did  you  intend  by  that  general  statement  of  intention  to  make 
the  application  to  existing  conditions  where  the  plural  mar- 
riages already  existed?  A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  As  to  the  living  in  the  state  of  plural  marriage?    A. 
Yes,  sir ;  that  is,  to  the  obeying  of  the  law. 

Q.  In  the  concluding  portion  of  your  statement  you  say : 
"I  now  publicly  declare  that  my  advice  to  the  Latter-day 
Saints  is  to  refrain  from  contracting  any  marriage  forbidden 
by  the  law  of  the  land."  Do  you  understand  that  that  lan- 
guage was  to  be  expanded  and  to  include  the  further  state- 
ment of  living  or  associating  in  plural  marriage  by  those  al- 
ready in  the  status?  A.  Yes,  sir;  I  intended  the  proclamation 
to  cover  the  ground — to  keep  the  laws — to  obey  the  law  my- 
self and  expected  the  people  to  obey  the  law. 

By  Mr.  Dickson,  of  counsel  for  the  church : 
Q.  Your  attention  was  called  to  the  fact  that  nothing  was 
said  in  that  manifesto  about  the  dissolution  of  existing  polyga- 
mous relations.  I  want  to  ask  you,  President  Woodruff, 
whether  in  your  advice  to  the  church  officials,  and  the  people 
of  the  church,  you  have  advised  them  that  your  intention  was, 
and  that  the  requirement  of  the  church  was,  that  the  polyga- 
mous relations  already  formed  before  that  should  not  be  con- 
tinued; that  is,  there  should  be  no  association  with  plural 
wives ;  in  other  words,  that  unlawful  cohabitation  as  it  is 
named  and  spoken  of  should  also  stop,  as  well  as  future  polyga- 
mous marriages?  A.  Yes,  sir;  that  has  been  the  intention. 

Q.  And  that  has  been  your  view  and  explanation  of  it? 
A.  Yes,  sir,  that  has  been  my  view. 


246 


APOSTLE  LORENZO  SNOW'S  TESTIMONY. 

Q.  Do  you  believe  that  the  association  in  plural  marriage 
by  those  who  are  already  in  it  is  forbidden  by  this  manifesto? 
A.  Well,  I  cannot  say  what  was  in  the  mind  of  President 
Woodruff  when  he  issued  that  manifesto  touching  that  mat- 
ter, but  I  believe  from  the  general  scope  of  the  manifesto  that 
it  certainly  embraced  the  plural  marriage,  because  it  is  clearly 
an  intention,  as  indicated  in  that  manifesto  of  President  Wood- 
ruff, that  the  law  should  be  observed  touching  matters  in  re- 
lation to  plural  marriage. 

Q.  You  mean,  now,  the  law  of  the  land?    A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  Do  you  understand  now  that  the  manifesto  conveys 
that  prohibition — the  prohibition  against  the  association  in 
plural  marriage  between  those  who  have  already  entered  into 
it  at  the  time  the  manifesto  was  given  as  well  as  a  prohibition 
against  the  contracting  of  future  plural  marriage  relations? 
A.  Well,  I  do ;  I  thought  I  had  explained  that ;  perhaps  I 
might  be  unhappy  in  my  expression,  but,  as  I  said,  the  inten- 
tion and  scope  of  that  manifesto  was  expressing  President 
Woodruff's  mind  in  regard  to  himself  and  every  member  of 
the  church,  and  that  was,  that  the  law  should  be  observed  in 
all  matters  concerning  plural  marriage,  embracing  the  pres- 
ent conditions  of  those  that  had  previously  entered  into  mar- 
riage. Is  that  a  plain  answer? 


APOSTLE  LUND'S  EVIDENCE. 

Q.  How  is  it  as  to  the  people  who  have  already  formed 
those  relations — is  it  right  for  them  to  continue  to  associate 
in  plural  marriage  with  their  wives?  A.  The  manifesto  does 
not  expressly  state  it,  but  the  President  of  the  church  has  said 
it  was  not. 

Q.  Was  that  the  first  time  you  understand  that  it  was 
included?  A.  I  understood  his  advice  for  the  church  from  the 
presidency  was  to  obey  the  law  of  the  land. 


PRESIDENT  JOSEPH  F.  SMITH'S  TESTIMONY. 

By  Franklin  S.  Richards : 

Q.  Do  you  understand  that  the  manifesto  applies  to  the 
cohabitation  of  men  and  women  in  plural  marriage  where  it 
had  already  existed?  A.  I  cannot  say  whether  it  does  or  not. 

Q.  It  does  not  in  terms  say  so,  does  it?  A.  No;  I  think, 
however,  the  effect  of  it  is  so;  I  don't  see  how  the  effect  of  it 
can  be  otherwise. 

247 


INDEX 


Pages 

Ackerman,    Attorney    General 57 

Anderson,  Judge — extracts  from   decision  in   naturalization  cases 

89-98,    104-8 

Allen,  Captain — issues  circular  of  explanation  under  which  Mor- 
mon Battallion  enlisted 194 

Allen,  C.  E. — statement  respecting  Utah's  free  school  law. .  198-201,  203 

Baskin,  R.  N. — letter  accepting  nomination  of  Liberal  party 24 

Speech  on  Senator  Christiancy's  election  bill 74 

Speech   on   Edmunds-Tucker   bill 69-71 

Speech  to  jury  at  first  trial  of  John  D.  Lee 132-6 

Legislative  minority  report  on  Memorial  to  Congress 178-180 

Opposing  statehood  187-192 

Bates,  George  Caesar 56-8,  87,   113-14 

Berry,  Senator  James  H. — speech  on  Mountain  Meadows  massa- 
cre in  the  Smoot  case 142-3 

Bishop,  Attorney — of  counsel  for  John  D.  Lee 126,  131,  136 

Bradshaw,  William — testimony  in  Lee  case 113 

Brassfield — murder  of 16 

Boreman,  Associate  Justice  and  Judge 41,  145 

Bradley,  U.  S.  Supreme  Court  Justice — extract  from  opinion 164 

Buchanan,  President — extract  from  message 18 

"Buck,"  last  of  Aiken  party — murder  of 150-1 

Bullock,    Provo   hotelkeeper 152 

Cannon,  Angus 42,  98 

Cannon,  Frank — statement  respecting  Cullom-Struble  bill 185-6 

Cannon,  George  Q 25,  74,  81,  192,  218,  245 

Cary,  William,  U.  S.  attorney 58,  61-2,  87 

Carter,  Barney — avenging  angel 112 

Chislet,  John — pointed  out  Lee  and  Brigham  in  carriage  in  1867.138-9 

Christiancy,  U.   S.   Senator 73 

Clark   John    91 

Clayton,  William — affidavit  as  to  "celestial  order" 159 

Clawson   Rudger,  testifies   as   to  covenants 91 

Clawson,   Bishop  ' 185 

Clinton,  Jeter 32,  55,  83 

Cook,  Mrs 122 

Cowan,  General — letter  respecting  Reynolds  trial 64-69 

Cradlebaugh,    Judge — extract    from    instructions    to    grand    jury 

requiring  inquiry  into  Mountain  Meadows  massacre 118-19 

Cullom  bill— outline  of— 28-30,  50,  56,  183 

Cullom,  Senator — extract  from  speech  on  Cullom  bill 30-1,  183 

Report  against  statehood 191 

Cummings,  Governor 119-121 

Dalton,  George 151 

Dame,  Col.  William  H 108-9,  111-12 

Deseret  News — respecting  polygamy 159,  160-1,  190 

Respecting  libel 221-2 

De  Wolfe,   Stephen — curse  pronounced   upon   him  by  a  Mormon 
83-4 

249 


Dickson,  William  H.,  U.  S.  Attorney 53,  89,  93,  209,  212,  214,  229 

Drake,  Judge 8 

Edmunds,  U.  S.  Senator 173,  200-1 

Emery,   Governor   

Englebrecht  case 32,  35,  51,  57 

Fancher,     Captain — leader     emigrants     massacred     at     Mountain 

Meadows 123-7 

Fitch,  Thomas — his  infamous  slander 47-52 

Forney,    Colonel — sent   to   investigate   Mountain    Meadows   affair, 
and  successor  of  Brigham  Young  as  superintendent  of  Indian 

affairs — extracts  from  his  reports  to  Washington 122,  140-3 

Gilson,   Samuel — negotiates    Hickman's   confession .  ...   36 

Godbe,  William  S. —  his  statement  of  the  effect  of  excommunica- 
tion   80-1-2 

Grant,    Heber    J . 199 

Grant,  Jedediah — sermon  on  Blood  Atonement 106-7 

Sermon  on  Brigham's  rebuke  of  grand  jury 138 

Haight,  Isaac  C 85,  88,  110,  113 

Ordered  massacre 146-8 

Hamblin,  Jacob — Brigham's   Indian  interpreter — testimony  in   se- 
cond trial  of  Lee 122,  125-6 

Hampton,  Brigham  J 223,  228 

Harding,  Governor — appeals  to  Congress 8-9 

Harrison,  E.  L.  T 80,  91 

Hartley,   Jesse    P. — murder   of : 152-3 

His  wife's  statement  concerning  same 153 

Hawkins,  Thomas — indictment  and  conviction  of 39-44 

Hempstead,  Major,  U.  S.  Attorney 37-8 

Henderson,  Judge 41 

Hickman,  Bill — his  confessions 36,  134,  150 

Higbee,  John  M 85,  88,  110,  146-48 

Hinkley  Arza — leader  Coalville  tragedy  made  judge 11-12 

Hoge,  Judge  Enos  D.,  attorney 199 

Hoops,  Elisha — ridiculous  witness  in  first  trial  of  Lee 144-5 

Hopkins,  Charley Ill,  124 

Howard,  William,  U.  S,  attorney 125,  136 

Hyde,   Bill — Gentile   trimmer 17 

Hyde,   Orson — gives   parable  of  the  sheep  and   "sharped-toothed 

dogs" 103,  152 

Johnston,  Gen.  Albert  Sidney 55 

Kearns,  Senator  Thomas — speech  in  Smoot  case,  showing  the  re- 
sults of  the  Mormon  business  system 205-8 

Kelsey,   Eli   B 144,   170 

Kershaw,  Robert — testimony  in  Lee  trial 108-9 

Kimball,  Heber  C. — extracts  from  sermons 102-3,  164 

Kimball,  General  William — one  of  Rockwell's  aides 150 

Klingensmith,  Philip — witness  in  Lee  trial 150 

Laney,  William 1 12 

Lawrence,  Henry  W 81,  169,  241,  245 

Testimony  respecting  Mormon  Battalion 195 

Lee,  John  D — connection  with  Mountain  Meadows  massacre 

. .      83,  86-8,  111,  138 

Extracts  from  his  confession. ..  .110,  113,  123,  131,  136,  146,  148,  154 

Letter  announcing  massacre,  written  at  Brigham's  request. ..  .12 

Little,  Col.  Jesse  C 195 

Maxwell,  General,  U.  S.  Marshal 62,  66 

McAllister,  John  D.  T.,  territorial  marshal 11,  33-4 

McBride,  Judge — reply  to  chairman  of  People's  party  in  regard  to 

request  to  participate  in  statehood  movement 20 

McGroarty,  William— nominated  Delegate  to  Congress  at  organ- 
ization of  Liberal  party 23 

250 


McGuffie,  James — testimony  in  naturalization  cases 112 

McGurrin,  Frank  E. — official  court  reporter 89 

McKay,  U.  S.  Commissioner 229 

McKean,  Judge 32,  35,  38,  44,  46-8,  52,  58 

McMurrin,   Joseph   W 222 

Miles,  and  his  polygamic  litigation 41,  98 

Moore,  John — applicant  for  and  denied  naturalization 89-92 

Moyle,  James  H. — testimony  in  naturalization  cases 92-4 

Chairman  Committee  on   Educa|ion 199 

Nelson,  Col.  William,  executioner  of  John  D.  Lee 203 

Nye,  U.  S.  Senator — did  not  report  Cullom  bill 31,  49 

Orr,  U.  S.  Marshal,  v.  McAllister 32,  34 

Owens,  Caroline — plural  wife  of  Miles 41-4 

Statement  of  the  endowment  house  ceremonies 98 

Penrose,  Charles  W. — remarks  on  Blood  Atonement 107 

Defends  selection  of  Mormon  jury  at  second  trial  of  Lee 138 

Perpetual   Emigration   Fund 167-8 

Polk,  President  James  K 107,  193-4 

Potter,  Isaac — assassination  of 9-12,  110 

Powers,  Judge  O.  W. — extract  from  decision  in  Hampton  case.... 228 

Pratt,  Arthur,  Deputy  U.  S.  Marshal 63 

Pratt,  Orson  F 18,  65-6 

Reynolds,  George — convicted  of  polygamy 61-70 

Richards,  Dr.  Heber  John — testimony  as  to  covenants 97 

Riter,  W.  W. — speaker  28th  session  Utah  legislature 199 

Roberts,  Brigham  H. — as  to  Mormon  Battalion 195 

Roberts,  William — testimony  in  Lee  trial Ill 

Robinson,  Doctor — assassination  and  circumstances 

13-16,  28,  37,  108,  231 

Rockwell,  Orrin   Porter 151 

Rogers,  William   H. — publishes  letter  in   1860  setting  forth  facts 

in  massacre  at  Mountain  Meadows 84-7 

Roseborough,  Judge — reply  to  chairman  of  People's  party  regard- 
ing requesting  participation  in  statehood  movement 20 

Scott,  George  M. — first  Liberal  mayor 26 

Smith,  Emma — the  Prophet's  wife 157-8,  161 

Smith,  George  A 108-9,  126-131,  137,  144,  148,  158 

Smith,  Hyrum 90,  97,  160 

Smith,  John  Henry — testimony  as  to  covenants 94,  97 

Smith,  Joseph— the  Prophet 90,  99,  156-163 

Smith,  Joseph  F 98,  204,  234-5,  245,  247 

Snow,  Lorenzo,  apostle 197,  244,  247 

Snow,  Zera 24 

Spencer,  Emily  and  Julia 41-4,  98 

Stenhouse,  Mrs 99,  144 

Stenhouse,  T.  B 11,  143 

Strickland,  Judge — McKean's  associate  justice 32-5 

Struble,  Congressman 183 

Sutherland,  Senator  George — extract  from  speech  in  Smoot  case. ..  .69 
Supreme    Court    of    the    United    States — extracts    from    decisions 

33,  45,  59,  64,  164,  183,  211,  213 

Taney,  U.  S.  Chief  Justice — extract  from  decision 33 

Taylor,  John — extracts  and  references 19,  160-1,  195 

Titus,  Judge — issues  warrant  for  Coalville  murderers 10 

Thomas,  Arthur  L.,  Utah  Commissioner  and  Governor. ..  .21,  201,  237 

Message   to  legislature  concerning  free  schools 202 

Thompson,  E.  W. — testimony  of  in  Lee  trial Ill 

Thompson,  Mrs.  Julia  F. — statement  that  Geo.  A.  Smith  forbade 

selling  the  emigrants  anything,  in  a  sermon  at  Beaver  City 109 

Thurman,  Samuel — Territorial  Assembly 200 

251 


Tucker,  Judge  Randolph— report  on  Edmunds-Tucker  bill 173,  177 

Trumbo,    Isaac   K 192 

Varian,  Charles  S 209,  230,  245 

Walker,  John — escapes  assassins  of  Potter,  mysteriously  disappears  12 

Watts,   George   D.    (footnote) 29 

Weller,  Ex-Governor  John  B 108 

Wells,  Daniel  H 62,  65,  137 

Wells,  Governor  Heber  J 182 

Whitney,  Historian • 22,  35,  48,  146,  183,  209-229,  236 

Extracts  from  his  history. . .  .34,  44,  46,  58,  61,  128,  145,  161,  184,  215 

Libels  emigrants 139,  140,  146,  149 

West,  Governor — extract  from  Message 21 

Veto   of  school   bill 201-2 

Williams,  Attorney  Parley  L 63-4,  200,  219 

Wooley,  E.  G. — witness  in  naturalization  cases 91 

Wilson,   Charles — killed   by   Coalville   murderers 10 

Wilson,  Judge 32-5 

Williamson,  Dr 165-6 

Woodruff,  Wilford,  President  L.  D.  S 177,  186,  194,  196-7,  243-5 

Woods,  Justice — opinion  in  Miles  case 41 

Young,  Brigham  8,  16,  24,  54,  79,  81,  110,  113,  122-32,  163,  194, 

Affidavit  in  Lee  case..... 115-16-17,  121 

Letter  to  Secretary   Belknap 119-120 

Dishonest  use  of  Lee's  letter  concerning  emigrants 126-7 

Extracts  from  sermons. .  .  .16,  18,  71,  75,  78,  100-5,  107,  155,  158,  193,  230 

Newspaper  comments  and  interviews 15,  127,   128 

Grant  of  City  Creek  Canyon 165 

Young,  Brigham,  Jr 197 

Young,  John  C  24 

Young,  LeGrand 89,  245 

Young,  Ann  Eliza 99 

Zane,  Judge  C.  S 21,  40,  52,  213,  237 


252 


